Donors

The Marquette Symphony Orchestra’s mission is to present symphonic musical performances of the highest artistic merit for students, adults, and children of the central Upper Peninsula of Michigan, and surrounding areas, and provide opportunities to individuals for cultural growth, and intellectual enrichment.

We are celebrating our 13th year of providing symphonic concerts in Upper Michigan. The Symphony offers a unique series of programs that are typically found only in major metropolitan areas. In the recent past we received grants and contributions from the Michigan Council for the Arts and Cultural Activities, the National Endowment for the Arts, Marquette General Health Systems, Northern Michigan University, Superior Medi Spa, Hetrick Associates, Cleveland Cliffs, Bell Hospital Superior Health System, U P Cardiology Associates, The Shiras Institute, The Marquette Community Foundation, Mrs. Phyllis Reynolds, The Reynolds Foundation, The Puffin Foundation, Kiwanis Club, The Marquette Rotary Club, The Marquette Breakfast Rotary, The Rotary West, and other organizations, community leaders, and private individuals. These are very competitive grants, and contributions and underscore the professionalism and high artistic quality of our offerings. However, State and National support has all but dried up for the for the 2009-2010 fiscal year, and we need to make up this and other revenue deficits in order to operate in any meaningful way.

Our September 2009 Pops Concert featured former Broadway singer and actor Paul Truckey who delighted a full house of audiences with his formidable voice. And our March 2010 Concert presented Kowalkowski’s world premiere work which was commissioned by some MSO members. We are striving to appeal to more general audiences with our Pops Concert, and at the same time it is important to present new, original and innovative music. We realize that the long term viability of the Symphony is also dependent on how good a job we do to inspire and develop young audiences, and fulfill expectations of adult audiences. With this in mind, we have active programs to reach the youth of the central Upper Peninsula and beyond. The MSO ‘s November’s 2009 Concert featured Hyejin Kim, a young, internationally prominent pianist. Our February 2010 Concert featured the MSO Youth Concerto Competition Winner Anna Ska’lova’. In addition, we presented several workshops and ensemble performances in the local schools, and Northern Michigan University by MSO ensembles. We have also actively solicited donors to purchase blocks of tickets to sponsor entire classrooms of students, as well as sponsor special performances at Kaufman for area schools. Our current Orchestra is composed of at least 14 youth interns both from NMU, and Marquette Senior High School. As you see, we do take youth development very seriously, as we know that the youth of today will determine our future.

Finances. Our budget is roughly $140,000. We have significantly reduced our debt and are nearing a balanced budget even in these challenging economic times, (from a deficit of approximately $28,000, to one of about $3,600).

In fact, two of four concerts in this past year’s series have been sponsored by local individuals or corporations. A number of Board members contribute hundreds of unpaid professional hours to the MSO. Because of this, we have kept our administrative costs to less than 5% of our total budget. Fully 60% of the budget is through ticket sales and donations. Our ticket sales have declined by about $3,300 from last year’s sales. We obviously need to do better in terms of selling more if not all concert seats particularly at the Pops Concert.

Budget Cutting and Expenses. In order to keep our offerings viable, we had a near draconian budget cut for this past year, eliminating 75% of our marketing dollars, and approximately 15% from the overall budget. Our prudent cost cutting from artistic fees, mileage, lodging, etc., has resulted in savings of over $10,000. At the same time program ads receipts are down. as are corporate and private contributions. However, MSO Ensemble earnings are up as with

service club contributions. Because of no State support, and declining corporate and individual contributions, and our need to help with increased expenses at Kaufman Auditorium, after five (5) years we had to increase our ticket prices by $2 per ticket.

Fundraising. Due to the economy we have lost State and National support this past year. I concur with many on our Board who believe that every Member should be involved in some form of fundraising on a regular basis. We are presently developing presenting/funding relationships with some U. P. institutions, and need to develop many many more.

Create Substantial Endowment Funds Through A Capital Campaign Program. It is very important for the long term viability of our MSO to seriously engage in and develop long term strategies to develop relationships with corporations, institutions, foundations, and individuals who might be interested in capital gifts, and other substantial contributions. Capital gifts are not necessarily limited to gifts of materials and physical structures. We need to go from a

hand-to-mouth to a more financially sound organization. A substantial endowment fund will go a long way towards this.

Outreach. We have been successful in establishing a partnership with the Besse Center in Escanaba, and have presented several programs of MSO Ensemble performances there. We have also had a successful MSO Ensemble presentation at the Kewadin Casino. We continue to seek improvement through sound financial planning, program innovation, dissemination, and evaluation. Our offerings contribute to the economy and vitality of our community. Young people, adults, students, and other community residents are enriched and inspired by them. Anecdotal evidence suggests that the MSO is one of the many reasons why some individuals may choose to relocate in our area.

Working With NMU. Our relationship with Northern Michigan University has developed where we have a mutually beneficial arrangement through a MOU. This will allow us to present performances at the Reynolds Recital Center, use some NMU facilities for rehearsals, borrow some musical instruments, etc. In exchange for these privileges, MSO will

present workshops, classes, and ensemble performances at NMU when appropriate.

Marketing and Long Term Planning. The MSO Board has had several extra meetings to understand and plan how to better market our offerings, and how to develop a marketing plan. We are presently working to put into effect what we discussed.

Principal Conductor. It is necessary to have the stability, confidence, and trust which a principal conductor can provide. We are very happy that Dr. Jacob Chi has signed with us for two more years.

Musicians and Staff Members. Sometimes they tend to be under appreciated, but we have been lucky to have had a very professional, and dedicated group of musicians and staff members who have performed very well for us for many years.

Board Members. My sincere appreciation and thanks go to all the Members of the MSO Board. We could not have survived these eventful times without your work and support.

The Future. It behooves us, if we want this organization to survive to see how we can change our programming to make it more relevant for modern audiences, continue to enlarge our patron base, attract younger audiences, develop a marketing plan, and institute a “serious” capital campaign program so we do not continue to function (or not function) in financial

instability.

With Best Regards

Tom Cappuccio, President,

Marquette Symphony Orchestra