S.D Symphony Looks for Financial Harmony

On the eve of its two-day fund-raising Radiothon on KFSD FM (94.6), San Diego Symphony officials expressed cautious optimism about their finances at the tail-end of their first season back after a musicians’ lockout forced the cancellation of the 1986-87 concert season.

Wesley Brustad, who took over as executive director of the troubled symphony in August, 1986, said that the community’s response to fund-raising efforts and the winter concerts has been “incredible,” but speculates that their financial troubles are not over.

“In a nutshell, I think we have one or two more years to get it (financially) stable,” Brustad said. “Then it can start to grow. We’re not out of the woods yet.”

Brustad said that when he took over the symphony, he established a first-year goal of 60% attendance. In fact, he said, they have achieved 67%.

However, the Nickelodeon silent film/concert series and the Pops series--often sell-outs--are responsible for bumping up the attendance rate, Brustad said. Attendance at the regular classical subscription series has continued to be a tough sell. Brustad, who came to San Diego after a year as executive director of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra and before that, in the same position with the Spokane Symphony in Washington, described the outdoor-oriented San Diego market as “nearly impossible” to reach with the appeal of classical music.

Symphony spokesman Les Smith said the symphony has raised $1.6 million from donations, leaving $400,000 of the original $2-million projected donations base yet to be raised. At the same time, Smith said, expenses for running the symphony have been below the projected figures.

With one week and three concerts remaining in the winter season, the orchestra has reached about 95% of its winter ticket-sales goal of $1.19 million. The symphony has already sold $585,000 of its goal of $1.6 million in tickets for the Summer Pops season, which is six weeks away, Smith said.

“We’re a little more than halfway through our fiscal year and we’ve raised 80% of our budgeted contributed income,” said symphony president Herbert J. Solomon. “People in the community are thrilled at the progress we’ve made and the discipline we’ve exhibited in terms of adhering to realistic objectives and keeping expenditures within our budget and meeting our income projections. We are under budget on our expenditures.”

Principal clarinet David Peck went through a similar situation 12 years ago when the Houston Symphony Orchestra had to rebuild after a 5.5-month lockout. As in San Diego, there had also been management and money woes, and the loss of the music director, which required a two-year search before a replacement was found.

“It’s a slow and steady process,” Peck said. “People have to exercise a lot of patience, both people in the orchestra, in management and in the community. We’re fighting a battle for long-term survival.”

The first step of that battle is establishing a history of financial stability, Brustad said.

“The problem is operating year to year, stopping the flow of blood and balancing the budget, which is what we have done this year, then balancing it for two years and then the third year,” Brustad said. “To do it for 12 months doesn’t mean anything to the cynics.”

And there are cynics, Brustad said. Although he thinks San Diego is responding to the symphony’s return, he notes that “a lot of people are sitting on the fence still, they don’t want to get burned again.”

(In 1986 the orchestra’s board of directors threatened bankruptcy if the community didn’t bail it out to the tune of $2 million. More than $2.4 million was raised in 10 days, but because of poor financial projections, the symphony still ended the season with a $900,000 debt.)

To convert its doubters into supporters, Brustad said the orchestra “must do it right, produce the concerts right, treat people right and manage our financial affairs right.”

The orchestra’s board of directors wiped out its operating debt last summer and cut the $5.5-million capital debt--incurred for buying and restoring Symphony Hall--to $3.6 million. The No. 1 problem facing the symphony, Brustad said in November, is restoring the symphony’s credibility in the eyes of the community. Despite the new management team’s expressed openness, Brustad has remained largely inaccessible to press queries, preferring to respond at formal press conferences or through symphony publicists.

Brustad canceled a scheduled interview with Times reporters scheduled this week to discuss the symphony’s financial situation, saying he was too busy with details involved with the appointment of a new music adviser (see related story, this page).

In another area, musicians and management have made significant strides in restoring the orchestra’s musical quality, which was decimated by vacancies following the 1986-87 season cancellation.

Twelve vacancies were filled in January, including positions for four principal players. The orchestra is attempting to fill five principal or associate principal positions this month through national auditions here in San Diego. The newly signed musicians will not begin playing with the symphony until the summer season.

Thursday’s announcement of the appointment of internationally recognized cellist Lynn Harrell as symphony music adviser is an important step in providing an element of critical musical leadership missing since the resignation of music director David Atherton in February 1987.

Filling Atherton’s vacant post is essential for more musical growth to occur, the musicians say. The playing this year has been inconsistent, partly due to the lack of a director, said clarinetist Peck.

“We’ve had guest conductors every week,” Peck said. “You can not have consistency unless you work with the same person every week. That’s not to say we haven’t played at a high level. At times we’ve played extremely well, very polished.”

Bassist Gregory Berton, commenting on the role of a music director, said, “You can have a group of wonderful players--just like a team of anything else--but it takes a (music director) to make it cohesive, to bring out a specific sound and make everything jell,” Berton said.

Today a spirit of cooperation prevails among the board of directors, management and musicians. For the first time in symphony history, a musician--principal bassoon Dennis Michel--sits as a member of the board of directors.

Working together eases the unpleasant bitter pill the musicians took--a hefty pay cut covering 1986-1989 that helped put the orchestra together again. Negotiations for a new contract are still a year away.

Time, both management and musicians say, is what is needed to overcome the myriad challenges facing the orchestra.