For L.A. Institute Orchestra, the Sound of Silence? : Music: The Philharmonic’s training program will be canceled if enough money cannot be raised by Oct. 31 to offset a $250,000 deficit.

When violinist Haldan Martinson signed up for the Los Angeles Philharmonic Institute, he wasn’t sure what to expect from the seven-week training course for instrumentalists and conductors. But the moment he began playing under the leadership of renowned Soviet conductor Yuri Temirkanov, Martinson knew he was at a new level of learning.

“When Temirkanov came, that was an extraordinary experience,” said Martinson, a 20-year-old sophomore at Yale and concertmaster of the orchestra there. “Even though his conducting was rather vague, once he got up on the podium the sound of the orchestra really changed. He had such control over our attention, stretching phrases to the breaking point.”

The news that nobody may ever again take the podium before an Institute orchestra came as a belated shock to Martinson. “That would be tragic,” he said immediately. “I think it would be a profound loss. There are not many--if any--programs like this.”

Ironically, Ernest Fleischmann’s dramatic plea at the Aug. 18 final Institute concert for donations to ensure a future for the program was not fully understood by many of the young musicians onstage at the Hollywood Bowl.

“It was very difficult to hear what he was saying, because of the amplification,” Martinson said. “I knew he was asking for money, but I wasn’t aware of the problem.”

Faced with a $250,000 deficit in a $600,000 budget, Fleischmann, the Philharmonic’s executive vice president and managing director, announced that the annual summer program will be canceled if the loss cannot be recouped. Thus far, about $72,000 has been raised toward a $200,000 goal, with the incentive that the remaining $50,000 already has been pledged by the Herb Alpert Foundation.

But if the money cannot be raised by an Oct. 31 deadline, one of the nation’s leading summer music study courses may end. (Only the well-established Aspen Music Festival and Tanglewood Music Center are more prominent.)

For local audiences, the demise of the Institute would leave a large hole in the summer schedule. The Institute orchestra played five concerts at Hollywood Bowl this summer (one shared with the Philharmonic itself) and two at Royce Hall, while smaller ensembles appeared on two different free chamber-music series at Schoenberg Hall. And the Institute’s 10th anniversary was marked by the first commissioned work from the L.A. Composers Project.

The potential loss is even more far-reaching. More than one-third of the 757 musicians who have participated in Institute orchestras since 1982 have gone on to professional posts, where they have had a profound effect, said Lynn Harrell, Institute artistic director.

“Their technical level is just amazing, and the musical and artistic development is on a completely different level than earlier generations. There are musicians here who, by the time they are 30, will know as much about the music as the conductors before them,” Harrell said.

Conductor Lawrence Foster, who has donated his fee from his Institute engagement this summer, is “very angry” over the potential loss of the Institute. As artistic director of the Aspen Music Festival, Foster said: “The health of one is important to the other. But I have to believe that there is some sort of hope of getting people to understand what is at stake. The Institute is one of the finest organized summer study programs I’ve ever seen. The accent is totally on quality, and the people involved are so genuinely idealistic.”

The loss of the Institute “would be a very sad event for everybody in the music community,” said Richard Ortner, administrator of the Tanglewood Music Center. “Not only in the loss of the training which such programs provide--they also enrich and refresh the orchestras that sponsor them.”

Ironically, the Institute’s threatened demise comes at a time when its officials think it has really arrived.

“I’ve noticed, doing the audition tour, that this year we seem to be on the map,” said James Ruggirello, administrator of the Institute. “I really think we’ve managed to carve out a niche for ourselves.”

Ruggirello said that the Institute program is considered “as sort of a last chance to have an idealistic, mountain-top experience. It’s an opportunity for young students who have talent to decide if they want an orchestral career, for grad students to polish their skills, and for young pros to check things out at the international level.”

Even if the $250,000 is raised, the Institute may be restructured next year.

“The Philharmonic will be in Salzburg in August,” said Ruggirello, “and they form the basis for our faculty. The season may well be shortened, even if the money problems are resolved.”

And if the money is not raised, changes to the program may adapt the Institute to a tighter budget, said Allison Sampson, the Philharmonic associate managing director, who is also looking at funding partnerships and collaborations. “I’m cautiously optimistic,” she said, “but it’s going to take a lot of different things going right to make this happen.”