In Thursday’s (7/8) Detroit Free Press, Mark Stryker writes, “The livin’ is supposed to be easy in summertime, but for the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, the roughly nine-week stretch between mid-June and mid-August has been the source of headaches and cash-flow issues for nearly 20 years. This weekend, however, the DSO is opening a new beachhead in its summer season with two concerts at the Edsel & Eleanor Ford House in Grosse Pointe Shores. Representing just a single week of work for the orchestra, the concerts still mark an important step in the DSO’s Sisyphean drive to rebuild a viable summer season. … It’s not that the orchestra isn’t busy. With a schedule that includes a week of free community concerts in June, Metroparks concerts, a July 4 residency at Greenfield Village, two weekends at Meadow Brook and sundry other events, the DSO is working every week until early August. But only the Greenfield Village concerts produce enough revenue from ticket sales and sponsorships to cover fixed costs. … The DSO’s partnership with the Ford House mirrors the orchestra’s relationship with Greenfield Village; expenses and revenues will be shared equally. … The weekend could net a surplus of about $21,000.”
Photo by John F. Martin
Posted July 8, 2010
