In Tuesday’s (6/26) Berkshire Eagle (Pittsfield, Massachusetts), Clarence Fanto writes, “Like a captain steering a cultural ship through stormy waters, Boston Symphony Orchestra Managing Director Mark Volpe is dealing with potentially treacherous, shifting currents while celebrating the 75th anniversary of Tanglewood, the county’s leading tourist attraction. With a degree in law as well as in music, Volpe, 54, served as executive director of the Detroit Symphony, as vice president and general manager of the Minnesota Orchestra, and as general manager of the Baltimore Symphony before taking the helm in Boston in September 1997. He discussed Tanglewood’s past, present and future in a recent interview with The Eagle in his office at the pre-Civil War Tappan House on the Lenox-Stockbridge campus.” On current challenges, Volpe says, “People should realize Tangle wood is an expensive proposition. Students come here and do not pay any tuition or room and board. This is 526 acres … The cost of operating Tanglewood is substantial, but the benefits outweigh that. It’s what helps define the Boston Symphony.” Volpe also looks to the future, saying, “We’re in the process of raising well over $60 million or $70 million that will specifically address physical-plant needs—$30 million we’ll spend, and $30 to $40 million we’ll put into an endowment to support ongoing maintenance needs.”
Posted June 28, 2012
