OC Philharmonic Will Scale Back for 1993-94 Season : Music: Because of a decline in touring orchestras, only eight concerts are scheduled at the Performing Arts Center.

Facing a decline in the number of touring orchestras, the Orange County Philharmonic Society on Monday announced a scaled-back 1993-94 season at the Performing Arts Center.

The new season includes only eight orchestral concerts at the hall. These are in addition to a five-program series recently approved after three weeks of controversy over the center’s opposition to the society’s plan to bring in such non-orchestral performers as the Chieftains and Les Ballets Africains.

For its current season, the society is presenting 12 orchestral events, plus five programs on the international-artists series.

Among the offerings are the Orchestre National de France with conductor Charles Dutoit, three performances by the Los Angeles Philharmonic, two of which will be led by music director Esa-Pekka Salonen, and the Dresden Philharmonic under Philippe Entremont, who also will be the piano soloist.

The society’s collaborative chamber-music series with the Laguna Chamber Music Society is unaffected: Like last year, there will be six chamber programs at the Irvine Barclay Theatre.

“Fewer orchestras are touring for the season coming up,” society executive director Steven Lupinacci said Monday. “It’s expensive for orchestras to tour. They’re not money-making propositions typically and require a great deal of underwriting.”

Additionally, “some of the Eastern-Bloc countries that underwrote touring orchestras--especially to the West--are without that structure now, and (they) are having to make a go of it on their own. A lot of them are choosing not to because they cannot afford it.”

Still, “in the face of leaner economic times,” he said, scheduling fewer orchestras “seemed to be a prudent thing to do.”

The society operates on a $2.3-million budget, but it recently faced a cash-flow problem and asked the center for a loan. Last week, center board members approved a one-time only loan of up to $150,000.

The society also has a $110,000 accumulated deficit.

Nonetheless, Lupinacci expects the organization to “break even or even have a small surplus that we can apply to the deficit” by the end of the season.

“Now that our cash flow is in place,” he said, “we’re looking forward to successfully completing the year and getting on with next season.”

Series tickets, ranging from $52 to $162, will be available to the general public beginning April 1. Tickets for individual concerts go on sale Sept. 1. Information: (714) 553-2422.

According to Glenda van der Zaag, executive director of the Laguna Chamber Music Society, co-presenting the chamber-music series allows both groups “to present bigger attractions than either one of us could do by ourselves.

“That’s why we asked OCPS to co-present it with us in the first place in 1991,” she said Monday. “It’s been wonderful working with them.”

Series tickets for the chamber-music series will range from $64 to $135 and will go on sale April 1. Information: (714) 249-2404 or (714) 553-2422.