“Utah Symphony and Utah Opera: a Merger Proposal”
Financial Strengths and Weaknesses of the Utah Symphony Before the Merger
The financial state of the Utah Symphony before the merger was grim. It was understood by the symphony’s chairman of the board, Scott Parker, that the situation was getting worse. This was aggravated by the downturn of the economy and the event of 9/11. However, even before the economic downturn and 9/11, the symphony was very close to a deficit situation (Delong & Ager, 2005). Scott Parker assumed the chairmanship to try to mitigate the situation.
The average endowment or contributions for a Group II orchestra like the Utah Symphony is $8.8 million in FY 2001-2002. The endowment for the symphony is considered in
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Many people view subsidies for performing arts such as the opera and symphony as support for the snobbish upper end of the income distribution. Governmental and public standpoints regarding the support of arts in the United States differ greatly from that of Canada and Europe, where governments provide primary support for the arts. The main government support for symphony orchestras and other performing arts here in the US emanates indirectly through tax expenditures.
In summary, the current financial strength of the Utah Symphony is the above average endowment that it receives from various contributors. However, this current financial strength is not guaranteed to endure. There is projected increase in revenue for FY 2001-2002 but at the same time, there is a projected increase in expenses. A very obvious financial weakness is its expenses compounded by:
* High salaries set by collective agreement.
* Agreed upon wage increases that do not consider the financial status of the organization.
Recommendations
Anne Ewers must provide a persuasive strategy to ensure that the financial crisis of the Utah Symphony is a priority prior, during, and following the merger. Anne Ewers has a praiseworthy track record with regards to stabilizing the financial situations of performing arts organizations. During her term as general director of the Boston Lyric Opera, she retired a $450,000 debt
The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra’s performance of Mahler’s Symphony No. 5 at the Berlin Philharmonie, gifted the audience with a masterful rendition of the movements within the symphony. The Symphony divides into three separate parts, in which the movements complement each other's characteristics. The symphony orchestra features a myriad of orchestral instruments featuring the Brass, Woodwinds, Strings, and Percussion families. Furthermore, the various movements throughout the performance utilize various musical concepts that bring the music to life. Albeit, the complexity of Mahler’s symphony, the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra performed superbly throughout the performance.
Financially, the organization is able to raise money through various means. For the fiscal year 00-01, the symphony was able to raise $3.8 million through performance revenues, $3.1 million through government grants, and $4.5 million through fundraising. With another $1 million coming from investments other minor sources, they had an operating budget of $12.4 million
The objective of this case is to understand the importance of crisis management. This case is intended to make the reader consider not only financial implications at the time of the event but the effects on the long term strategies of the organization. Also, the case urges participants to think about the consequences not only on the customer but on those within the organization as well.
This article discusses the world’s need for classical music and why it will always be relevant. The author explores what makes certain things “art” and why certain other things are simply entertainment. He claims that classical music can never die because it is fundamentally different from many other types of popular music. It defines what makes art different from entertainment and answers the age old question of who gets to judge between them. In an age that dooms classical music to inevitable failure, this article offers a refreshing different perspective in a much more hopeful light.
The Utah Symphony shows financial weaknesses in several areas. Their cash flow is affected due to their low dollars in their fund raising area. They also experience a higher than normal expense rate that comes from the recompense that is paid to their artists that they employ.
This article was written by the government so I know it is very reliable and trustworthy. Since I could not find any reliable sources that disagree with my topic I chose to use this source that explains why there were budget cuts against the arts, and the arguments for and against it. This article also gives statistics from over the years on how much the government spent on performing arts programs, and how their budget went down slowly over time. Additionally, this article discusses why performing
Slide 2: The Utah Opera is an adhocracy culture. An adhocracy culture is one that is externally focused and values flexibility. This type of culture is adaptable, creative, and reacts to change quickly (Kreitner & Kinicki, 2010). The opera shows these qualities in their culture. The opera values flexibility, and has tailored their business model to allow for adjustments in both the size of the opera and fundraising projects. This allows for them adjust their operations in a timely manner as needed in order to meet profitability goals. The general nature of the opera fosters the creativity that is required for the adhocracy culture, since they are an arts program. The opera focuses less on their
The necessity to combine the Utah Symphony and the Opera is based on the ever changing environment that supports the arts community. There have been seismic changes in the economic landscape throughout the entire country over the past few years. These changes have created shortfalls and limitations on external funds donated to help fund the arts in and around the Salt Lake Community.
While it is unfair to compare the magnitudes of these numbers without providing scale, it does speak to the differences in scale between California and Ohio. For Ohio, OSU represents just 39.11% of total expenses and 19.70% of total net expense for component units. More information can be found about both Universities in their respective state’s Discretely Presented Component Units Financial Statements section.
The decline in music education programs in public schools is a result of budget cuts is becoming more visible. State-level arts spending has dropped from $409 million in the fiscal year 2002 to $354.5 million in the fiscal year 2003, and declined again to $272.4 million in 2004 (“Quick Facts”). It is clearly
Much too often in America today, modern music and art programs in schools are perceived to many as extracurricular activities rather than important subjects that are vital to a students learning and skill development. The truth of the matter is that encouraging music and art education in public schools has a much larger impact on student’s grades, academic performance, and the economy than the majority people realize. Within the next year city school budgets will be dropping by twenty five percent, and despite the fact that music and art programs have been showing a dramatic contribution to student’s learning, this substantial drop in funding for the programs will lead to no dedicated money for art or music programs (Mezzacappa). There is
Introduction San Francisco symphony is a well-known group of musicians who play great instruments together(orchestra), it’s a well-respected organization that took place in USA and frankly, made a huge remark around the world. The organization locate in San Francisco city hence the name of San Francisco Symphony. The orchestra is a great compound of san Francisco city, the city gives the orchestra the spirit to distribute their musical culture. Historical Background In 1906 the great city of San Francisco suffered of the tragedy disaster of 7.8 magnitude earthquake and fire, and San Francisco Symphony organization was founded in 1909 after significant tragedy.
During the Classical Era, music was primarily for the upper class, but a prospering economy allowed the middle class to enjoy the same privileges as the upper class. During this time, there was a rise in public concert, which led to the upper and middle class wanting to learn to play music themselves. They had the money to attend these public concerts while the poor didn’t. (Yudkin, 2013).
The finances have also allowed us to present gifts to opera staff members/conductors/chorus directors when they move on to other organizations after
Through Ewers’ leadership, musicians could add variety to their repertoire, giving them access to a broader spectrum of performances. Performing with the Opera would allow for additional productions each year creating rotations for instrumentalists wanting to crossover and perform in both genres. Combining the two styles could create a pop style opera that could potentially reach the younger demographic, once again increasing revenue. Although Ewers’ experience was primarily in opera, it is her positional power and knack for building fiscally sound companies that made her the easy choice to lead both companies. While the symphony struggled at fundraising, Ewers’ UOC annual budget grew 3X from her predecessor, mainly due to her corporate sponsorships that reached beyond the state of Utah (Delong & Ager, 2005, p. 3). One of Ewers’ first challenges was to get Keith Lockhart, Music Director for the USO onboard with her plan on how to merge the two entities. Lockhart’s concern was the proposed organizational chart that showed him reporting directly to Ewers rather than the Chairman as he had with the USO (Delong & Ager, 2005, p. 14). Ewers personal