Music Director Rossen Milanov conducts the Columbus Symphony Orchestra at the Ohio Theatre, October 2020.
“Symphony orchestras nationwide … have been laying off musicians and staff [and cutting salaries] because of the ongoing economic effects of the Covid-19 crisis,” writes Hayleigh Colombo in Monday’s (11/9) Columbus Business First. “But the relatively small and scrappy Columbus Symphony Orchestra, made up of about 45 full-time musicians and 14 staff members, remains intact. Executive Director Denise Rehg says … ‘Our goal has been to protect the full-time musicians. We were just able to hold things together and serve the community in ways we never have before.’ … Douglas Fisher, who has played bassoon for the symphony since 1984 is and president of the local musicians’ union, said the Columbus Symphony has handled the pandemic as well as can be expected…. It’s not that the symphony has avoided the economic impacts of Covid-19. Its budget has been cut … $7.5 million for the 2021 fiscal year … compared to $9 million last year. And it’s not had enough work to pay its part-time cadre of symphony players and stagehands.… It projects a deficit this year that Rehg is hoping to cover through additional fundraising. But Rehg says the Columbus Symphony’s relatively small size and dependence on donors is actually what has allowed it to survive.”
