MUSIC

The New Orleans Symphony, plagued by a $3.8-million debt, voted Monday to suspend its current season after a final performance Saturday. It will be the longest shutdown for the 52-year-old symphony, which, despite its financial problems, was riding a crest of artistic success under conductor Maxim Shostakovich, who drew enthusiastic reviews after last week’s fourth concert of the season. The financial crisis has been building for years, and is blamed by current board members on mismanagement before the symphony hired a full-time manager in 1986. Interest payments alone cost more than $500,000 a year. Subscription renewals dropped to about a third and the reduced staff had few resources for tapping corporate or private donors, officials said. Still, a spokesman for the board said that the symphony’s 1988-89 season is expected to open in the fall.