'A tough conversation'

Jesse Rosen, president of the League of American Orchestras.

Administrators, board members and artists from the League of American Orchestras are meeting at the Minneapolis Hilton this week — a particularly apt time to be talking about hard times in the arts world. Nearly 1,000 people packed a special plenary session titled "Red Alert!" this morning to hear League president Jesse Rosen and two consultants frame the issues.

Likely, delegates didn't hear much of which they aren't aware. For the rest of us, though, Rosen broke down some facts in what he called "a tough conversation."

In 2005, the average deficit for an American orchestra was $193,000, Rosen said. That grew to $697,000 by 2009. In 2008, half of orchestras reported deficits; one year later, in the second worst economic collapse in American history, two thirds reported deficits.

Still, Rosen, despite the cyclical nature of the 2008 stock market collapse, he feels the challenges are structural, and were only exacerbated by the collapse.

"For more than 25 years, orchestras have been adding costs while ticket revenue and audiences were declining," he said.

Rosen said orchestras are a microcosm of society and that not all organizations are hurting. In particular, smaller groups have shown themselves to be nimble and able to adapt.

He called for urgent action to bring about innovation and meaningful change, along the lines of five issues:

1) Decreasing income and rising costs. Corporate donors are leaving the arts at a dramatic rate and audiences are moving away from subscriptions. It doesn't get much more basic than that.

2) Donor fatigue. Foundations and individuals doubt whether the institutions can be sustained. Is there money simply being used to sandbag a levee holding back a rising tide.

3) A commitment to excellence is not enough to guarantee the future.

4) There is a stagnant product delivery system. The standard method of inviting people to a traditional live concert is not sustaining the industry. You Tube gets mentioned a lot. Live streaming.

5) A lack of diversity in staffing, audiences, programming — particularly in a nation where demographers predict more than half the population will be non white by midcentury.

To address these challenges, Rosen suggested three things orchestras must do to "crash-proof" their organizations:

1) Take responsibility for the orchestra's true financial condition. Be willing to look at bloated or fragile infrastructure that can't sustain itself. In collective bargaining, don't agree to terms that you cannot support. Also, he suggested that term limits for board leaders might be obsolete because problems require long-term attention.

2) Realign with community needs. Become a cultural service agency rather than a high-end performance agency.

3) Foster creativity. Attract creative people in an organization, and encourage younger musicians to work in alternate venues such as intimate settings. (Similar, say, to the local group Accordo, which is made up of string players from the Minnesota Orchestra and St. Paul Chamber Orchestra).

"We are at a crossroads as a field," Rosen said.

Steve Wolf, a consultant who worked with leaders in Columbus, Ohio, also spoke to the group, arguing to focus on earned revenue, seek efficiencies and renegotiate relationships with audiences, funders and artists.