San Jose Symphony Folds


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Posted by Matt Good on June 04, 2002 at 22:08:35:

San Jose Symphony to fall silent
BANKRUPTCY TO BE DECLARED; RESURRECTION ON A SMALLER SCALE IS GOAL

By Lisa M. Krieger and Rodney Foo
Mercury News
Jun. 03, 2002

The San Jose Symphony will play its farewell concert Saturday night
and then will head to U.S. Bankruptcy Court, where it hopes to
dissolve years of growing debts and distrust before it plans for the
future.

The news, which will be announced today by the symphony's transitional
committee, ends the hope that Silicon Valley could sustain a
traditional symphony in the model of the San Francisco, Philadelphia,
New York and Boston symphonies.

It also leaves San Jose as the largest U.S. city without a symphony
orchestra.

With enough support, the symphony could be replaced within two years
by a smaller, community-based and more fiscally responsible orchestra,
according to the transition committee. But a new symphony won't start
up until it has accumulated enough money -- at least one year's worth
of operational funding, three to six months of reserve and a
substantial endowment, committee Chairman Jay Harris said.

The announcement concludes months of uncertainty about the future of
the 123-year-old institution. With an estimated $3.4 million in debt
and just $300,000 in assets, the symphony seemed increasingly likely
to fold. Concert attendance had fallen off. To make ends meet, the
organizers borrowed money on credit.

The symphony's status has been in limbo since it was shut down last
October because of mismanagement and spiraling debt. Without the
shutdown, it was impossible to raise the revenues for a new start,
said Harris, the former Mercury News publisher who took over the
symphony committee in December.

``There is an odd sense of relief that the truth is being told, as
painful, as regretful as it is,'' Harris said. ``One by one, a lot of
people lost faith due to false promises, mismanagement and creating
expectations that were not realistic.

``We need a fresh start. Substantial change is needed. There is
support for some form of symphonic music in Silicon Valley . . . but
it can't be the old model.''

The San Jose Symphony is not alone in its troubles. With high
overhead, low cash flow and huge dependence on corporate and
individual good will, orchestras all around the country have seen
difficulty in recent years. Ten U.S. symphonies have declared
bankruptcy in the past 15 years. Eight have come back -- some smaller,
such as Sacramento and Oakland, and others stronger, including San
Diego, which found an angel in Qualcomm founder Irwin Jacobs, who
pledged a $120 million endowment.

But the local symphony confronted more than the usual problems. It
lived in the shadow of the world-class San Francisco Symphony. It
failed to win the support of the region's young and very transitory
population. The region's economic downturn made matters worse.

Saturday's benefit concert will be the last of four. By June 15, the
staff will be cut and the symphony will release an audit of expenses
and revenues. The future of its musicians is uncertain.

Some plan to stay in the area and see what the future holds, but
others are open to moving. ``If the opportunity comes up, I will not
hesitate to pick up and leave the area,'' said associate principal
second violin Elizabeth Corner, who is raising two children with her
husband, Michael Corner, principal clarinet in the symphony. ``If we
can see light at the end of the tunnel, I can imagine waiting. . . .
But for now, we have to scramble.''

The symphony's transitional committee had put off bankruptcy in an
effort to reach an out-of-court settlement with creditors.

But a report by a specially appointed advisory panel, led by Nancy
Glaze of the David and Lucile Packard Foundation and adopted May 15 by
the committee, concluded that to move forward, the symphony first had
to be free of debt and inefficient organization. This includes
abandoning plans for a new, $150 million symphony hall.

Harris said the only decision remaining is what sort of bankruptcy
relief to seek. Under Chapter 7 of the Federal Bankruptcy Act, all its
assets -- including its music library and band shell -- could be put
up for auction. Chapter 11 would permit it to reorganize under court
protection, perhaps allowing it to pay only part of its debt to
creditors.

As word of the bankruptcy reached the musical community, there were
feelings of regret and optimism about the future.

``It is a dark page in the history of San Jose,'' said conductor and
music director Leonid Grin, who has a contract with the symphony
through 2004. ``This is one of the oldest orchestras in the country
and one of the oldest west of the Mississippi. We can't afford to lose
such a symphony.''

Grin said it's too late for him to book guest appearances with other
orchestras next season, and he declined to comment on how his contract
will be affected by Monday's announcement.

He said the new symphony must bring music to the masses by playing at
parks, colleges, and as smaller ensembles, to build a larger audience.

``We mourn the loss of a fellow artistic colleague,'' said Andrew
Bales, executive director of the Ballet San Jose Silicon Valley.
``They were somebody else here working in the trenches to keep artists
employed and to provide services to the community.''

Many symphony musicians are also employed by the ballet's own
orchestra, Bales said, but the symphony's demise will not affect the
ballet's season.

Bob Kieve, a San Jose radio station owner who served on the symphony
board from 1968 until 1998, called the move to file for bankruptcy a
``long overdue'' step toward ``resurrecting the symphony.''

Irene Dalis, head of the San Jose Opera and doyenne of the Silicon
Valley arts community, said the suspension of the symphony was
inevitable but sad. As a center for culture, San Jose is ``still very
young,'' Dalis said. ``Unfortunately, we have so much wealth here, but
the ones who are wealthy don't seem to be leaning to helping the
arts.''

She expressed hope a newly reconstituted symphony will flourish.
``Many symphonies have had this kind of situation and stopped and
retooled and rethought everything and come back stronger,'' she said.


####


Bankruptcy comes despite 89 musicians' sacrifices
By Anita Amirrezvani
Mercury News
Jun. 03, 2002

The San Jose Symphony's plans to file for bankruptcy didn't surprise
its musicians.

``It's not any big shock to us,'' said Kristen Linfante, viola player
and chairwoman of the musicians' negotiating committee. The musicians
learned Friday that a bankruptcy filing was likely.

Now the 89 musicians have to decide whether to wait or look elsewhere
for work. ``It is, for many, the final nail in the coffin,'' said
Linfante. ``We've been hanging on since October.''

The symphony has been dark for eight months, except for benefit
concerts. The musicians forgave a contract worth $2.5 million in the
hope of helping the organization get back on its feet.

Since the symphony will remain shut for another six to 18 months, some
musicians say they can't wait. Linfante and her husband are
considering moving back to the East Coast with their two young
children.

``We've done a lot of soul-searching and decided we most likely will
have to leave and look for greener pastures elsewhere,'' she said.

Others are finding ways to squeeze by. Michael Corner, principal
clarinet, and his wife, Elizabeth, associate principal second violin,
relied on the symphony for 75 to 80 percent of their income. ``We've
managed to keep the wolf away from our door, but this is a major,
major blow to us,'' said Corner. ``We've put in a lot of time and
effort to make the symphony a first-class organization, and we feel a
bit betrayed.''

The symphony paid musicians $26,000 to $48,000 a year, not enough for
most to consider it a full-time job. But since it went dark, many have
had to supplement their incomes extensively by teaching music lessons,
playing gigs for the theater or the ballet and picking up other odd
jobs.

Principal horn player Wendell Rider, who has performed with the
symphony for 32 years, has done technical writing and substitute
teaching, and has written a book on teaching horn technique. ``It took
$35,000 per year out of my pocket -- that's not easy to replace,'' he
said.



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