Philharmonic in the red

Despite achieving new highs in ticket sales and fund-raising, the Philharmonic Society of Orange County ran a $164,000 deficit for the 2002-03 fiscal year, which ended June 30.

This means that after a decade of balanced budgets, the society, Orange County’s leading presenter of touring classical and world music talent, has incurred deficits two years in a row and will reduce expenses for the coming year by more than $2 million, said Dean Corey, executive director.

In its most recent season, the society spent $5.96 million while generating $2.1 million at the box office and receiving an additional $3.7 million from donors and attendees at fund-raising events.

Corey said it had trouble sustaining sales momentum because two orchestras, the BBC Symphony and San Francisco’s Philharmonia Baroque, canceled dates, leaving long gaps in the schedule. The 2002-03 season also got off to a difficult start when the French equestrian troupe Theatre Zingaro drew poorly as centerpiece of the annual Eclectic Orange Festival, which went $434,000 in the hole; Corey said emergency fund-raising made up for that shortfall.

The coming season’s budget has been pared to $3.8 million, partly because there won’t be any attractions as expensive as the $2.2 million spent on Theatre Zingaro. Meanwhile, the society’s staff has been cut through attrition, from 23 positions two years ago to 18 currently.