Music Director Designate Matthew Jenkins Jaroszewicz leads Ohio’s Canton Symphony Orchestra in a recent rehearsal. Photo by Kelly Klein.
In Friday’s (3/8) Canton Repository (Ohio), Ed Balint writes, “Canton Symphony Orchestra CEO Rachel Hagemeier recently gave a ‘State of the Symphony’ address. Hagemeier warned that if funding challenges aren’t addressed, the symphony’s long-term survival could be in question. The Symphony CEO also pointed to reasons to be optimistic, including ticket sales growth and sold-out shows…. ‘The sky’s not falling,’ assured Hagemier, who took over as president and CEO in the fall of 2022. ‘We’re not going to close our doors, but if we don’t have this conversation … in 10 years, we might be.’… Drawing from its endowment has helped the organization to balance its books … ‘I’d like the endowment to be a security and not a crutch,’ Hagemeier said…. Symphony staff members are examining innovative and new ways to adjust the business model while continuing to operate efficiently … Simon Woods, CEO and president of the New York City-based League of American Orchestras, said the challenges posed in Canton ‘are … consistent with the conditions we’re seeing in the field. It’s about the changing demographics. All of the legacy art forms … are facing change … I think virtually every orchestra is thinking how do we adapt our art form to the environment we’re in now (and) adapt it to the coming generation (and an increasingly diverse American population).’ ”
