The Toronto Symphony Orchestra sold 224,000 concert tickets during its 90th anniversary (2011-12) season and earned its highest revenues ever, but still reported a $986,000 deficit at its annual general meeting on Monday afternoon.
- Classical Music 101: What Does A Conductor Do? - June 17, 2019
- Classical Music 101 | What Does Period Instrument Mean? - May 6, 2019
- CLASSICAL MUSIC 101 | What Does It Mean To Be In Tune? - April 23, 2019
The orchestra performed 126 concerts at Roy Thomson Hall, where it kept the average attendance above 80 per cent. The season featured three special residencies by very expensive artists: pianist Lang Lang, cellist Yo Yo Ma and violinist Itzhak Perlman.
Other performances included reaching more than 50,000 young people through its 19 student concerts and traveling to Northern Ontario for its annual pre-season residency.
It also performed for free in a well-attended public concert in David Pecaut Square to close this summer’s Luminato festival.
Overall, it cost the orchestra $25,536,906 to operate last fiscal year, while bringing in $24,550,586 in revenue.
According to a summary included in the orchestra’s annual report, 45 per cent of earnings come from ticket sales and education, 23 per cent comes from fundraising, grants from all levels of government account for 24 per cent, and gifts from the Toronto Symphony Foundation and the Volunteer Committee make up the remaining 8 per cent.
The past season’s deficit means that the Toronto Symphony’s accumulated debt now stands at approximately $10 million.
The organization’s president and CEO Andrew Shaw says that he and the board can live with these numbers, but are doing everything they can to ensure that the current season breaks even and that the debt can eventually be reduced.
The orchestra has recently undertaken a major fundraising drive to help endow more musicians’ chairs, support guest artists and bolster the Toronto Symphony Foundation, which currently has combined assets of just over $28 million, a half-million dollar gain over the previous year.
“I take a bigger view of the situation,” says Shaw. “It was a great year artistically, and the audience response was enthusiastic. We’ve demonstrated that what we do is important to the community.”
Despite an increase of more than $700,000 in ticket sales last season, fundraising revenue and income from the Toronto Symphony Foundation dropped by nearly $400,000 from the previous year. And the actual cost of producing concerts rose by $1.1 million dollars, thanks to the anniversary’s special guests. “The other costs are as tight as bark to a tree,” Shaw insists.
He adds that the final deficit figures were lower than what the organization had originally budgeted.
The Toronto Symphony president has maintained for several years that, in the current low-interest-rate situation, it is less costly for the organization to carry an accumulated deficit than it would be to try and reduce it. But, in an ideal world, Shaw admits that the orchestra would benefit a lot from a long-term debt half the current size.
“It would allow us to take more risks,” he states.
Shaw says that revisiting the terms of the orchestra musicians’ contract, which expires at the end of the current season, is not an option for reducing costs (unlike what’s been the case with many orchestras in the United States).
“We’re trying to carve our own path here,” says the CEO. “I’m trying to increase the compensation to musicians so that we can attract the best and reward them for great performances.”
Looking toward the current fiscal year, which always coincides with the beginning and end of a season, Shaw says that the orchestra is off to a flying start, posting excellent ticket sales for its first six concerts.
“This season, we have to clean up after the party.”
John Terauds
- Classical Music 101: What Does A Conductor Do? - June 17, 2019
- Classical Music 101 | What Does Period Instrument Mean? - May 6, 2019
- CLASSICAL MUSIC 101 | What Does It Mean To Be In Tune? - April 23, 2019
