Symphony’s crisis
seen as normal

The interim director says many
cities are struggling with
financial shortfalls

The good news about the Honolulu Symphony's latest administrative disruption is that the organization's financial problems, including poor fund-raising results and decreasing classical concert attendance, are no different from the difficulties plaguing many other symphony organizations.

"Identifying challenges is much easier that solving them," said Gideon Toeplitz, the Honolulu Symphony's interim director. He replaces Steve Bloom, who resigned earlier this year following conflicts with some of the symphony's executive board members. Bloom remains a consultant with the symphony through the summer.

Toeplitz, former managing director and executive vice president of the financially troubled Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, will be "in and out" of Honolulu through the end of this year while "defining areas of conflict and immediate challenges," then making recommendations.

"That's the first order of business," Toeplitz said. "We don't want to go too long term with solutions because the new director will likely have his own plans."

Toeplitz said the problems with the Honolulu Symphony are generally easily defined.

"It's likely that expenses are out of synch with revenues," he said. "Maybe there is too early a commitment of expenses without the guarantees of the revenue," he said. "And there are situations when expenses are simply not controlled."

Although controlling expenses through short-term cuts can be painful, "it's within the administration's control."

Toeplitz hasn't yet decided where the short-term cuts might be.

"You cut every place you can to have an immediate effect, but I don't believe that cutting long, at least at this point, is a solution," he said.

The symphony's budget is about $6.3 million, and expects a $200,000 deficit, Bloom said.

Several symphonies under financial strains "borrow" from their endowments for immediate revenue relief with the hope that "in time they'll come back on their feet," Toeplitz said.

Honolulu Symphony's endowment is about $6 million.

Another challenge will be increasing audience size for the classical concert series. The Pops is the symphony's revenue-maker.

"Our industry needs to make some substantial changes in what we do, how ... to be more relevant," he said. "I'm concerned with the 40-plus audience, the ones who should come to concerts. Why are they not?"

Toeplitz believes this group "can't relate" to classical music because of the traditional way it's being presented.

"It doesn't have anything to do with education or lack of it in the schools, so let's not hide behind that," he said. "It's a different generation, and they have a different relevancy standard.

"They may be the first totally visual society, having grown up watching television. Right now, symphony concerts are not part of the visual society."

What's necessary is a change in the "overall classical concert experience of listening and viewing, without changing the music," he said.

"Symphonies have been terrible in thinking that, 'if we play well, people will come,'" he said.

FOR MORE THAN a decade, pops' audiences have been increasing and overtaking the classical side, Toeplitz said.

In Pittsburgh, pops concerts made more money than the classical side, which Toeplitz expects is the case in Honolulu.

"Pops is what people want to see and hear, in part because it's clearly more visual and relevant," he said.

He compares pops and classical to "two sumo wrestlers looking at one another and wondering how they're going to attack each other," he said. "There's room between the two to avoid a confrontation."

And that's light classical, Toeplitz said.

"Arthur Fielder made his reputation on light classical," he said. "The music is challenging, not demeaning, but it has to be done well. I'm guessing this may be a solution."

In the 1980s and early 1990s, a downsizing trend began among orchestra managers and boards. Many orchestras were affected, including Honolulu, Buffalo, Charlotte, Oakland, Oklahoma City, Phoenix, Rochester, Sacramento and San Diego.

Some blamed the double-digit inflation of the 1970s and the recession for crippling orchestras. There was also industrywide speculation that the problems were musician costs. Containing or reversing budget growth took precedence over respectful labor relations.

Toeplitz made no mention of reducing the Honolulu Symphony's orchestra size or the concert schedule, emphasizing the existing contract "must be honored" and "affecting the musician numbers will hurt the orchestra's credibility."

Former San Diego Symphony director Lew Waldeck, in an article entitled "Some Plain Talk About Symphony Orchestras," explained why musician salaries are not responsible for their orchestras' financial troubles.

"Musicians are the means of production, the delivery system ... the product, not easily replaced," he said.

The New York Port Authority in 2002-03 found that every dollar spent on the arts in New York generated $4 in revenues. Other cities have sponsored similar studies that revealed even larger multipliers.

That is "a compelling reason" to maintain a cultural organization, Waldeck said.

"Cities are competing with each other," he said. "They all want the tourists. They all want the retirees."

But in order to attract these groups, cities must offer standard cultural events, he said.

"There is always going to be a need for subsidy," Toeplitz said. "A symphony orchestra cannot pay for itself."

According to some studies, most orchestras are fortunate to earn 50 percent to 60 percent of their expenses. The rest must be subsidized by governmental, business and individual subsidies.

ORCHESTRA MEMBERS have been told by their union representatives not to discuss Bloom's resignation with the media or how they think it will affect the organization.

Bloom's departure leaves the 83-member orchestra -- 63 full-time and 20 part-time musicians -- without its president and without musical director Samuel Wong, who left last month after nine seasons. He becomes conductor laureate of the Honolulu Symphony.

Toeplitz said he won't apply for the Honolulu Symphony presidency.

"What we'll be looking for is someone who's community-oriented, knows how to work with the community and (attract major contributors)," he said. "This isn't news. Boards don't look from the artistic side anymore, but for fund-raising and marketing people."

Carolyn Berry, the Honolulu Symphony's chairwoman and the organization's major individual contributor, is expected to announce at the July board meeting that she's stepping down from the position she's held since Bloom became director. Berry, a Bloom ally, has been criticized by some board members for influencing administrative decisions. She'll remain on the symphony board and continue her contributions, sources said.