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The Virginian-Pilot
December 19, 2005
Virginia Symphony, Falletta basking in good news
Budget crunch eases as ticket sales rise; director nominated for a Grammy award
BY MALCOLM VENABLE THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT • Reach Malcolm Venable at (757) 446-2662 or malcolm.venable@ pilotonline.com.
JUST IN TIME for Christmas, the Virginia Symphony Orchestra is getting a few good tidings: The budget picture is improving, the group has hit a subscription milestone and Music Director JoAnn Falletta has been nominated for a Grammy award.
First, the orchestra has announced it has balanced the annual operating budget for the third year in a row. Though the group is still burdened by a large debt, it has reported revenues of $5.1 million for 2005.
“It was a big challenge to do that,” said Falletta, who said the money had beenraised through ticket sales and donations. “I’m proud of staff and board.”
This means the group can continue to hold more performances and draw in more top-notch guest artists such as Yo-Yo Ma and Itzhak Perlman.
It can continue to expand its presence, as it did by establishing a home on the Peninsula at the new Ferguson Center for the Arts at Christopher Newport University in Newport News. It also can offer concerts in what it calls more “relaxed atmospheres,” as it did this fall when it began concerts at the Granby Theater in Norfolk as an attempt to draw younger concertgoers.
Part of the group’s fiscal good news has to do with the boom in attendance: For the first time in the history of the 86-year-old orchestra, subscription sales have passed the $1 million mark.
“I think the increased presence is due to better public relations and marketing,” said Falletta. “There’s a growing population in the area – people are moving from cities like Boston and New York and looking for the arts.”
However, Falletta’s most exciting news is personal: She recently learned she’s been nominated for a Grammy. Her work on “Eventide” from the album “Fuchs: An American Place” earned her the nod in the category Best Instrumental Soloist Performance (With an Orchestra). She conducted Thomas Stacy on English horn with the London Symphony Orchestra.
“I almost can’t believe it, but I’m thrilled,” said Falletta, who added that she didn’t even pay attention to the nominations until the piece’s composer, Kenneth Fuchs, telephoned her.
She’ll know whether she’ll be attending the Grammy awards ceremony in the next few days.
“If I do get to go, I’ll buy something very special” to wear. “It will be a once-in-alifetime experience.”
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The Virginia Symphony Orchestra with a complement of 79 professional musicians under the direction of Grammy-nominated Music Director JoAnn Falletta performs 140 concerts annually, reaching 200,000 concert goers every season in venues throughout the region. Our education and outreach programs reach 53,000 students and adult learners every year. The Virginia Symphony Orchestra is the cultural cornerstone of the performing arts in Hampton Roads.
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