Beaufort Symphony Orchestra on stable footing once again; orchestra to finish 2015-2016 season
The Beaufort Symphony Orchestra is no longer in the red and will be able to finish its 2015-2016 concert season, officials said this week.
Board members found out last week that the organization had more than cleared the $30,000 needed to put the 50-member orchestra on stable footing.
"We now have enough funds (to continue operating)," said Ed Like, president of the orchestra's board of directors, by phone on Wednesday.
Just before Thanksgiving, Like sent an open letter to Beaufort residents letting the community know the orchestra was on shaky financial ground and that additional money was needed to pay for its contracted musicians as well as other expenses.
The orchestra found itself in financial straits after a series of events put pressure on its reserves.
In 2014, the orchestra decided to leave the University of South Carolina Beaufort after a 24-year run at the university's Center for Performing Arts.
"The university had made several decisions that made it difficult for us to stay there," Like said.
He said the university raised the rent for the use of the facility where the orchestra also kept some of its equipment.
In addition, the university had discussed plans to renovate its auditorium which would have interfered with the orchestra's rehearsal and performance schedule.
Like said his board made the decision to move the orchestra's base of operations to the Sea Island Presbyterian Church but needed to build a platform for the orchestra to fit into the church's sanctuary.
That project, which cost $15,000, wiped out the organization's reserves, he said.
To further exacerbate the situation, ticket sales and donations for the orchestra's 2015-2016 season have also been down -- a trend Like said is happening around the country.
"My feeling is some of it has to do with programming," he said. "But across the country there's been a decrease in attendance in pure classical concerts."
A 2009 report from the National Endowment for the Arts showed that public participation in arts and cultural events had sunk to its lowest level since 1982.
In addition, there's only so much money "in the pot" to fund community arts and performing arts events, Like argued, making it difficult as groups like the orchestra struggle to remain visible and compete for funding.
"Part of the problem is that people forget there is a symphony orchestra here," he said.
While the threat of concert cancellations were imminent, Like said he had been particularly concerned for the more than 100 school-age children who regularly perform with the orchestra or at concerts of their own and benefit from its programs through scholarships and music education.
Those children, he said, learn to play an instrument through the orchestra, move up through its ranks and often go on to a career in music.
"Thankfully," he said on Wednesday, the orchestra is in the clear as it moves into the next half of its season.
After the plea for additional support went out, the response from the community was almost immediate, he said.
The orchestra received several large donations -- including one of $10,000 -- as well as support from those who had given earlier in the year.
The organization now has a little over $80,000 in its coffers -- money that will allow the orchestra to finish its 2015-2016 season and help replenish its reserves as it prepares for its next season.
The news that the orchestra will be able to perform its April and May concerts -- two shows that had been threatened by the lack of funding -- was met with both relief and appreciation this week.
Like and the orchestra thanked the community for its support in a letter to the editor stating, "We are very grateful for the generosity of our supporters and look forward to 'Keeping the Music Live' for the Beaufort community for many years to come."
Follow reporter Mindy Lucas on Twitter at twitter.com/MindyatIPBG.
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This story was originally published December 10, 2015 at 8:55 AM with the headline "Beaufort Symphony Orchestra on stable footing once again; orchestra to finish 2015-2016 season."