October 28, 2010
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
OREGON SYMPHONY REPORTS A BALANCED BUDGET,
ELIMINATION OF ITS LONG-TERM DEBT
Six New Board Members Elected at Association’s Annual Meeting
(PORTLAND, Ore.) – The Oregon Symphony Association, Portland’s largest performing-arts organization, today released its audited financial statements for the fiscal year that ended June 30. It was a year marked by significant financial progress, including the association’s first balanced budget in several seasons and the payoff of its $7 million long-term bank debt.
At a meeting Tuesday afternoon of the Oregon Symphony Association Board of Directors, the organization reported that …
- It finished its 2010 fiscal year with a surplus of $563, on a total operating budget of $13.7 million, after the board voted to defer an additional $480,000 surplus to fiscal 2011.
- The $13.7 million operating budget was 10.5 percent smaller than the prior year’s $15.3 million in expenses, reflecting $1.6 million the orchestra saved because of pay cuts and other concessions given by its musicians, staff, conductors, guest artists and vendors as a way of helping the organization cope with the economic recession. At the start of the season, musicians and staff members agreed to salary and benefit reductions of 13 percent.
- The figures reflect an 18 percent drop in income from ticket sales – to $5.7 million from $6.9 million the prior year – largely due to the impact of the recession on ticket buying.
- On the other hand, contributed income increased by 3 percent, to $7.8 million from $7.6 million the prior year.
- Endowment income fell 25 percent, to $1.1 million from $1.5 million the year before, after the board decided to use $7 million of its unrestricted funds to eliminate the association’s long-term debt. The repayment of the bank loan is saving the organization more than $400,000 a year in interest costs. The permanently restricted endowment was valued at $9.1 million on June 30.
“We knew the recession would hit us hard this year,” said President Elaine Calder. “The fact that we were able to balance the books, pay off the bank debt and defer almost half a million dollars to support this current year’s activities seems nothing short of remarkable.
“These achievements attest to the commitment of everyone associated with the Oregon Symphony. Musicians, conductors and staff members accepted wage concessions that reduced their incomes by 13 percent, board members approved significant changes to our financial structure, and our suppliers and donors added their support in any number of ways throughout a very difficult season. Finally, the unexpected number of large bequests is a testament to earlier boards, musicians and managers and the strong relationships they developed with donors who sadly are no longer with us.”
Earlier in the month, at the Oregon Symphony Association’s annual meeting held Oct. 9 at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, Board Chairman Walter E. Weyler first reported to members that the annual audit would show an improving bottom line. “The financial situation is much improved,” Weyler said at the meeting. “I’m not saying it’s fixed – it’s still fragile – but it’s much improved.”
Cellist Trevor Fitzpatrick, chairman of the musicians’ Orchestra Committee, also spoke at the meeting.
“We have great management and staff who have turned this orchestra around almost a full 180 degrees. We have an orchestra that has never sounded better,” Fitzpatrick told attendees. “We just need to make sure we keep moving forward.”
The association also elected six new members to three-year terms on its Board of Directors. They are:
- Kristine Collins, a lawyer who had worked in New York City as an enforcement attorney for the Securities and Exchange Commission before moving to Portland early this year.
- Peter Frajola, the Oregon Symphony’s associate concertmaster and a member of the orchestra for 28 years.
- Kelly Johnson, executive vice president for wealth management at Umpqua Holdings Corp. and Umpqua Bank. Johnson previously served as a director from 2005 to 2007.
- Tracy Murphy, managing director of Merrill Lynch Wealth Management’s regional office in Portland.
- Ann Sacks, founder of both Ann Sacks Tile and Stone and, more recently, Design and Direct Source, which supplies tile and stone products for commercial projects worldwide.
- Larry Vollum, director of design and innovation at CompView Medical. Vollum is the son of the late Portland philanthropist Jean Vollum, a life member of the Oregon Symphony Association board.
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CONTACT:
Carl Herko
Vice President, Media & Public Relations
(503) 416-6347
cherko@orsymphony.org