SPCO balances budget, lowers prices

After a 50th-anniversary season that included wage freezes and administrative layoffs, the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra balanced its $13.2 million budget for the 2009 fiscal year. At its annual meeting Wednesday afternoon, the orchestra also promised to lower ticket prices next year.

"In the most difficult financial climate of our time, we balanced our budget and had more people attend our concerts," said Sarah Lutman, president and managing director. "We are ending the year on a very high note."

When annual fundraising stumbled last spring, the orchestra reduced expenses by canceling a planned European tour, cutting salaries of top administrators 10 percent, freezing retirement contributions and management salaries, and eliminating seven out of 42 staff positions through layoffs and unfilled posts. The orchestra's 35 players agreed to a 12 percent wage cut in the 2010 fiscal year that ends next June.

Operating expenses were $12.1 million for the year ending June 30, down 2.9 percent from $12.5 million the previous year. The orchestra also spent about $1 million to stage an International Chamber Orchestra Festival in January that brought four chamber ensembles, including three from Europe, to the Twin Cities. The SPCO's five-city Scandinavian tour last December paid for itself through fees and other income sources.

More tickets under $25

Starting next July, SPCO tickets at Ordway Center and Ted Mann Concert Hall will range from $10 to $40. They now cost between $11 and $59. Under the new price structure, 75 percent of the SPCO's tickets at the Ordway, its primary venue, will cost $25 or less. About 30 percent are now in that range at the Ordway. Children's tickets will remain $5 as they have been since 2006.

Lowering ticket prices may seem ill-timed, but Lutman said doing so makes concerts more affordable without requiring expensive advertising and marketing efforts. The orchestra's subscriber base has grown 38 percent since 2004 when it began lowering prices at neighborhood concerts, she said. Also, ticket sales cover only about 15 percent of operating costs, with the rest coming primarily through contributions from individuals, corporations and foundations.

"Our mission is to promote the art of classical and especially chamber music, and we believe the way to do that is to make ourselves as accessible as we can to the largest number of people possible; we're evangelists for the music," said Lutman.

The orchestra's endowment covered 13 percent of its operating expenses last year and stood at $37.7 million at the end of June. It raised $8.9 million last year for operations, anniversary and festival expenses. Its neighborhood concert series are staged in Eden Prairie, Stillwater, Apple Valley, Wayzata, Arden Hills, Uptown and St. Paul's Summit Avenue.