In Sunday’s (4/26) Sacramento Bee (California), Edward Ortiz writes, “The Sacramento Philharmonic’s slimmed-down 2009-10 season reflects the cautious approach to budgetary concerns that have hit it and orchestras nationwide. The new season will feature four mainstage concerts instead of the five concerts the orchestra has performed each year since its inception 13 years ago. … The scuttling of the fifth concert is a temporary action, said [Executive Director] Marc Feldman.” Eliminating the fifth concert will save $100,000 for the organization, which has seen its endowment drop 30 percent. The [2009-10] season does not feature any new commissions, but the orchestra “will revisit its cross-cultural exploration with the Middle East when Egyptian conductor Nader Abbassi returns to the Philharmonic in January.” Abbassi conducted the orchestra in the Spring of 2008. “To meet its outreach goals, the orchestra will shrink the size of some of its outreach ensembles and will decrease its lesson offerings. But it has been increasing other forms of outreach, including a new partnership with the Sutter Medical Center Foundation in which the Philharmonic’s professional musicians will perform special concerts for patients, families, and staff at Sutter Medical Center.”
Posted April 27, 2009
