“The Omaha Symphony just scored its best season in recent history,” reports Casey Logan in Tuesday’s (6/23) World-Herald (Omaha, Nebraska). “Close to 69,000 people attended symphony programs during the 2014-15 season, including the largest number of paying attendees (59,450) since the orchestra started playing at the Holland Performing Arts Center a decade ago.… Season subscriptions are on the rise, too. And it isn’t a single-season anomaly. Since 2011, paid attendance for symphony programs has increased 23 percent, and ticket revenue is up 20 percent.… ‘We’re definitely thinking, for each of our series, what is the demographic we’re trying to appeal to most?’ said Omaha Symphony President and CEO James Johnson.… The ‘MasterWorks’ series, unquestionably the artistic core of any symphony season, is holding steady, too.… ‘It means there’s great support for what we do day in and day out in the community as a symphony,’ Johnson said, crediting Music Director Thomas Wilkins, now in his 10th year at the helm, Resident Conductor Ernest Richardson, and the musicians of the orchestra.… The organization, which will see its budget grow slightly to $7.45 million in the year ahead, is engaged in a strategic planning process … for the next four or five years.”
Posted June 24, 2015
Pictured: Thomas Wilkins leads the Omaha Symphony at Midtown Crossing’s Turner Park, June 11, 2015.