Syracuse.com reported that the Syracuse Symphony Orchestra’s board of trustees voted Tuesday to suspend operations as of Sunday because of a shortage of funds. The decision will bring the 50th anniversary season of the orchestra to an unceremonious end.
There were more than 20 Syracuse and regional concerts remaining in the 2010-11 season. The orchestra’s 18 full- and part-time staffers and 61 core and 14 contract musicians will be laid off Monday. However, eight employees will remain to help in the transition, Interim Executive Director Paul Brooks said, although he added that the organization has very little cash to carry out an orderly transition. Brooks said no refunds would be issued to ticket holders, and he said any donations received during the SSO’s public fundraising campaign, "Keep the Music Playing" will not be returned.
Its April 27 concert by renowned cellist Yo-Yo Ma also is canceled. But despite suspension of operations, Brooks said, the Syracuse Opera has been assured that the orchestra will play for its two performances of "The Pearl Fishers" April 8 and 10, said Brooks.
Brooks made the announcement after a three-hour closed board meeting in the conference room of Eric Mower and Associates in downtown Syracuse. He said the SSO was without funds to continue operations because it fell short of its March fundraising goal of $445,000, failed to receive $1.3 million in concessions from the musicians for the 2011-12 season and had $5.5 million debt as the major reasons for the suspension.
The SSO has a budget of $6.9 million for 2010-11. "In order to be sustainable, we have to have in place a balanced budget for next fiscal year. We have been unable to reach an agreement with the musicians through diligence on our part and on their part," Brooks said. "In spite of our best efforts, we have to come to the point where we are faced with no other choice but to suspend operations." The board will consult with legal counsel to explore its options and will reconvene next week to consider the next steps, Brooks said.
Management and musicians also will meet Thursday to continue efforts toward a compromise. Brooks stressed this was a suspension, not a closure. But because there will be no concerts, this is effectively a closure, said Jon Garland, chair of the Musicians Committee. "It’s really unfortunate that our board wasn’t able to come forward and meet us part of the way on what we were willing to give back to make the budget work," Garland said.
About 45 SSO musicians, in their formal concert attire, quietly waited in the lobby outside of the conference room as the meeting stretched from daylight to dark. They were solemn as they learned of the news from fellow musicians Jeremy Mastrangelo and Gregory Wood who were present in the trustees’ meeting. SSO Music Director Daniel Hege, who also attended the meeting, chatted with a few musicians afterward and was somber. He declined to comment about the meeting’s outcome.
"It’s an unconscionable betrayal of the trust the community has placed in the symphony," said Garland after hearing details of the meeting. The musicians’ refusal to accept $1.3 million in concessions Monday precipitated the Tuesday board of trustees meeting. The executive committee of the board of trustees told musicians it would propose that the full board take a vote to suspend operations if an agreement wasn’t reached on the concessions.
During the past eight months, the board has struggled to put its finances in order. In July, it was on the verge of being broke and being forced to close. An "angel investor" came to the rescue with operating funds.
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