ROCHESTER PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA 2013–2014 ANNUAL REPORT from the Board Chair and President & CEO
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ER TO C EST ARN CH EG O I R E H M A O L L R R L L F F I t’ s e! a s rat eason to celeb ROCHESTER PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA 2013–2014 ANNUAL REPORT From the Board Chair and President & CEO Dear Friends of the RPO: “Moving Forward” was the inspiration behind the Rochester Philharmonic’s pivotal and productive 2013- 2014 fiscal year. The challenges and opportunities before us gave everyone in the organization a chance to take a hard look not only at where we are and where we’ve been, but also at what is possible. The Orchestra’s 91st season was brimful of concerts and special occasions described in detail in the following pages of this report, but two major events stand out as proof of the RPO’s forward momentum: the naming of Rochester native Ward Stare as our twelfth Music Director in July; and the Orchestra’s triumphant return to Carnegie Hall in May. Ward’s appointment is symbolic on many levels. An alumnus of the Rochester Philharmonic Youth Orchestra whose career advanced rapidly from The Juilliard School to the Lyric Opera of Chicago, and then on to the Aspen Music Festival, Los Angeles Philharmonic, and Saint Louis Symphony, Ward now returns to Rochester to lead his hometown orchestra into a new era of artistic excellence and community engagement. As we release this report to coincide with the Annual Meeting, we are less than two weeks away from the official announcement of Ward Stare’s Inaugural Season in 2015-2016. We are thrilled to welcome Ward to the RPO family and can think of no more powerful symbol of an organization that is moving forward. May 7, 2014, was a proud day for the Rochester Philharmonic and for all of Rochester, as the RPO returned to the world’s most famous concert stage—Carnegie Hall—for the first time in nearly 30 years. Every corner of the organization and the Rochester community rallied to make this enormous undertaking possible: 250 performers on stage and more than 800 Rochesterians in attendance; more than two dozen sponsors; VIP travel packages and special events—all culminating in a dramatic concert performance of Howard Hanson’s rarely performed opera Merry Mount, earning an enthusiastic ovation from the audience and the enthusiastic praise of the local and national press. Equally important to the organization’s future was the work of the Sustainability Task Force. Following three intensive months of study, their report was presented to the Board in November 2013 and discussed in depth at a Board retreat the following month. The Task Force report offered a detailed analysis of the RPO’s financial condition and laid out specific strategies to move the organization into a position of financial stability. In the spring of 2014, the Board approved a Moving Forward Plan—a detailed action plan focused on improving the organization’s fiscal health. 2 It is clear that this organization needs to change; continuing along the same path will not lead to fiscal stability. The Board and management are aligned in the strategies required, and we are proud of the progress we have made since the Board’s deliberations more than a year ago. Many of these new initiatives involve building internal infrastructure to drive revenue in our marketing and development operations. This year’s independent, non-subscription concerts—from Audra McDonald and Kaddish to La Traviata and Video Games Live™—are other signs of the changes under way at the RPO. We recognize above all that the RPO is YOUR orchestra. Our audience and our community are central to who we are, where we’ve been in the past 92 years, and where we are heading. As we map out our course for the future, we want to do so with you and the broader community in mind—which is why we value so highly the feedback we receive along the way. In the fall of 2013, we invited our patrons to give us their thoughts on their concert experience. You did—thousands of surveys were returned—and we listened! We are grateful for the direct feedback we’ve received on so many aspects of the RPO, from our programming mix to our box office and front of house operations to the RPO website. True progress is only possible if we are all working together. In that spirit, we must express our gratitude to the musicians and staff of the RPO, not only for the superb performances they play and produce night after night, but also for the faith they continue to demonstrate in the future of this organization. Once again this season, our players and staff have accepted concessions in wages and benefits to give the Moving Forward Plan time to take root and begin to yield measurable results. Whether you’re a subscriber or a single-ticket buyer, a donor or a volunteer, a staff member or a musician—or perhaps someone who belongs in several of these categories—we thank you for the role you played in the life of the RPO in the past year. We look forward to moving forward into the RPO’s future with you. Dawn F. Lipson Charles H. Owens Chairperson of the Board President & CEO PHOTO CREDITS: Cover photo: Steve J. Sherman Dawn Lipson photo: Janice Hanson Charles Owens photo: Walter Colley Images 3 A Year in the RPO SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER The RPO’s 91st season opened with an evening of classical favorites, including Mahler’s First Symphony, under the baton of guest conductor Jun Märkl with guest violinist Jennifer Koh (1 & 2), who performed the popular Mendelssohn Violin Concerto. In October, the RPO Pops Series opened with a Broadway revue featuring The Midtown Men (3), four stars from the original cast of Jersey Boys, under the baton of guest conductor Ron Spigelman. NOVEMBER As buzz for the RPO’s upcoming performance of Hanson’s Merry Mount at Carnegie Hall began to build, Rochester Mayor Thomas Richards presented the RPO with a joint proclamation from the City and Monroe County to commemorate May 7, 2014 as a day of celebration at a press conference announcing details about the Carnegie Hall concert (4 & 5). 1 RPO Principal Oboe Erik Behr (6) performed Strauss’ virtuosic concerto in an evening that also featured Rachmaninoff’s Second Symphony. DECEMBER Guest conductor and harpsichordist James Feddeck (7) led two holiday performances of Bach’s Magnificat, featuring the select Eastman Chorale directed by William Weinert, as well as vocal soloists from the Eastman School of Music. JANUARY 2 Atlanta-based Cirque de la Symphonie (8) returned to perform jaw-dropping, yet elegant aerial feats and acrobatics with music by the RPO and conductor Jeff Tyzik. Later that month, RPO trumpeter Paul Shewan served as guest conductor PHOTO CREDITS: for the first-everSide by Side: RPO & Community Orchestra Concert, sponsored by (1) Juergen Frank, (2) Janice Hanson, (3) Courtesy of The Midtown Men, (4) Janice Hanson, (6) Kate Lemmon, (7) Peter Figen, (8) Aloysia the City of Rochester and featuring 115 amateur musicians from the community Gavre, (9) Janice Hanson, (10) Oh Seuk Hoon, (11) Pat Johnson, (9). The repertoire included a program of Liszt, Bizet, and Dvořák. (12) Lori & Erin Photography FEBRUARY The RPO’s Black History Month celebration featured an evening of Gershwin and Ellington, with Van Cliburn silver medalist Joyce Yang (10) and guest conductor Michael Morgan (11). The program included a special performance of two movements from Symphony No. 3 by Florence Beatrice Price, who was considered the first African American woman to be recognized as a symphonic composer, as well as former Eastman School of Music faculty member and Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Joseph Schwantner’s New Morning for the World, “Daybreak of Freedom.” The work included the immortal words of Martin Luther King Jr. with recently-elected Mayor Lovely Warren as narrator (12). 4 3 4 6 7 5 9 8 10 11 12 5 MARCH Conductor Laureate Christopher Seaman (1) returned to Rochester to lead the RPO in music of Beethoven, Berlioz, and Bruckner, with pianist Jon Kimura Parker (2) performing Beethoven’s Second Piano Concerto. Principal Pops Conductor Jeff Tyzik celebrated 20 years with the RPO with a weekend of celebratory concerts, featuring Doc Severinsen of The Tonight Show Band (see pg. 8). APRIL The RPO presented a Carnegie Hall (3) concert preview of Howard Hanson’s 1 opera Merry Mount in Kodak Hall at Eastman Theatre with guest conductor Michael Christie and singers from the Eastman School of Music Voice and Opera Department. The Pops Series continued with an evening of classic love songs featuring conductor Jeff Tyzik and the vocal talents of Curtis Stigers (5). MAY/JUNE The RPO played at the Spring For Music Festival at Carnegie Hall (3) (see pg. 10), immediately followed that same week by two sold-out performances spotlighting the music of John Williams (6), marking the long-awaited return of former RPO Artistic Director Robert Bernhardt. Dr. David Harman (4) led his last concert as conductor and music director of the Rochester Philharmonic Youth Orchestra after 21 years of dedicated service. 2 JULY Summer at the RPO included two performances at CMAC (Salute to America and PHOTO CREDITS: Classical Mystery Tour), the annual 4th of July celebration concert sponsored (1) Gelfand-Piper, (2) Tara McMullen, (3) Nadine Photography, (4) Janice Hanson, 5) Marina Chavez, (6) Katie Sejba, by the City of Rochester (8 & 9), and Pixar in Concert (7). Later that month, (8 & 9) Jules Smith/Pictured L to R: Charles Owens, Rochester native Ward Stare was named the 12th music director of the RPO.