Columbus Symphony to fold
The bad news coming out of Columbus is that the 57-year-old orchestra is out of money, failed to reach an agreement with its musicians and will close down on June 1. Having heard the orchestra play a few years ago and knowing the caliber of its musicians -- some of whom live in Cincinnati -- I am shocked at this news and wracking my brain as to how the board could allow this to happen. Possible reasons:
-- A community apathetic about the arts, and especially a symphony orchestra?
-- A dysfunctional board?
-- A board that has allowed itself to become too inbred, not drawing support from the community at large?
-- Mismanagement of funds?
-- A city that cannot afford an orchestra financially?
-- Musicians who refuse to downsize and take further concessions?
These are all speculations. The musicians have already taken concessions and were being asked to cut their ranks from 53 to 31 and reduce the season...
What's your take?
LOCAL MUSICIANS AFFECTED BY THIS? CALL ME AT 513-768-8382
OR E-MAIL JGELFAND@ENQUIRER.COM
posted by Janelle Gelfand at 9:47 AM
9 Comments:
at 5/12/2008 01:00:00 PM 
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at 5/12/2008 02:43:00 PM 
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at 5/13/2008 09:04:00 AM 
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at 5/13/2008 09:20:00 AM 
Bob Baylor said...
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at 5/13/2008 09:36:00 AM 
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at 5/15/2008 08:56:00 AM 
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at 5/16/2008 11:55:00 AM 
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at 5/16/2008 02:49:00 PM 
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at 5/16/2008 09:29:00 PM 
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Post a Comment*It sould come as no surprise, but Columbus centers it's attention and money around OSU football.
Please, this is not a discussion about OSU football. It has no more relevance discussing the Columbus Symphony as discussing the Bengals, Red, and the Cincinnati Symphony.
An inompetent board is the problem at Columbus Symphony. The collusion of the Columbus Dispatch to print the lies of the board about the musicians, and the refusal to print the rebuttals by the CSO muscians is certainly not the workings of the mythological "free press."
The people of Columbus and the Columbus Symphony musicians are victims of the arrogance of the CSO Board and their partner in crime, the Columbus Dispatch.
The problem is when the board stupidly fired Maestro Siciliani thinking they could get someone "better".
He wasnt the best conductor, but he had a loyal and avid following. The board rejected a proposal from some patrons with money to bring him back! These people probably became disgruntled, stopped supporting the CSO and then management spent three years finding a new conductor to replace him. In the meanwhile, those laywers and liars and lemmings did nothing to support the new music director expexting him to find support by himself. Wanting him to fail! No Development director, no campaigns to fund the CSO were established and guess what.....here we are! Now lets just cut production. It works for autos so it must work for us orchestra players too!
I respectfully disagree with those that dismiss the impact of THE Ohio State University on the psyche of Columbus residents. Columbus may be a large city but it is first and foremost a college town. It is a mentality foreign to Cincinnati residents who not obsessed with the presence of UC or XU. Cincinnati residents have broader palette of destinations that are not college-centric. Columbus has similar venues which, for the most part, are eclipsed by the shadow of THE Ohio State University. The identity of Columbus and its residents are inextricably linked to the university. It is unfortunate that so few of Columbus residents patronized the symphony but hardly surprising.
Bob, I respectfully disagree with you as well, although you weren't being very respectful by continually typing "THE Ohio State University," as those who find the fact that OSU officially has "The" in it's title something to deride and make fun of.
First, Symphony attendance in Columbus is not the problem. They're packing them in. It is a know fact that any symphony in this country makes about 30% of its operating budget from ticket sales. The rest must come from the fundraising efforts of the board of directors via support of the public and businesses of the city. Cleveland and Cincinnati symphony boards do this very well, meeting the near 40 million budgets of both of those bands. The Columbus board says it can't raise 12 million and wants to cut that.
Second, I have lived in Columbus and it is not the one dimensional city that you have painted with such a broad brush stroke. Many people have moved into Columbus as it grew who have no ties to OSU. There are lots of things to do in the city that don't involve OSU. There are many other colleges in the Columbus metro area that people have allegiance to besides OSU. Yes, OSU is a big successful university and it does have a big presence, but it doesn't dominate the city in the way you've suggested and certainly plays no role in the incompetence of the Columbus Symphony Board of Directors to fail to understand and perform the jobs they were selected to do.
Having grown up in Columbus I must disagree with the last comment.
While I would like to believe that the local community in Columbus would support the Symphony, I realize it is not true.
That is one of the reasons I don't live there today.
Yes, a large portion of the budget does come through corporate funding, gifting and such, but those individuals and organizations would rather put their dollars in something other than the CSO - just about anything in fact. That is the reality.
A friend of mine who heads a large law firm there told me last week he wouldn't give anything to the CSO - he said it just isn't viewed as a vital part of the city. Old, stuffy, for snobs - he said it doesn't fit with the Columbus image of a city moving forward. Leave it to Cincinnati and Cleveland as "old" cities holding on to dying institutions, and public funding of sport teams.
So, blame it on the board, the musicians, and/or the citizens but the reality is NO MARKET.
Let it die in peace and hopefully it will live another day.
In Ohio's second largest city, if there is NO MARKET, then the chance of the CSO living again is nil. Dead is the word.
Ugly word/NO MARKET/ in a capital city of a great state/OHIO/ almost
hurts to hear.
There must be music, regardless of the era, the audience will come to some agreement and buy tickets to hear, even if it is light classical, pops, or even
Broadway show tunes, music is the lifeblood for many of us who choose to attend live performances on-stage.
Somewhere in Columbus is a core of a fundraising
effort to put this back into the city's make-up for the younger folks coming into careers that have time for relaxing.
Give Columbus execs a chance to get their minds
together and go forth to save a culture that will not die. eM=M
Great state??????????
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