GOSHEN, Ind. (AP) - Things are looking up for the Elkhart County Symphony. Way, way up.
Following several years of shaky financial times coupled with rumors of a possible closing, the Elkhart County Symphony is now back in the black and promising a future that’s bigger and brighter than ever.
Now in its 66th year, the symphony back in 2008 hit what could only be called a major financial roadblock as the devastating effects of the Great Recession roared their way across the country.
“The symphony - like all nonprofits - went through sort of a rough time during the recession,” said Susan Ellington, orchestra director at Goshen High School and longtime member of the symphony’s board of directors. “At one point, there was even some discussion about just closing it down permanently, so we formed the Save Our Symphony Association about eight years ago. Since then, we’ve worked and worked and slowly built, divided up responsibilities, and come through some exceptionally difficult and challenging times.”
The symphony’s steady climb back into solvency really took hold about three years ago with the key decision to cut all staff and divide responsibilities of programming, personnel, production, fundraising, audience development, management and leadership among the symphony’s long-term executive board officers, Ellington told The Goshen News (https://bit.ly/1bi83eB )
“For the last three years, in an effort to cut costs and get things under control, we actually cut the executive director position, we cut the full-time music director, etc., and divided those responsibilities between the executive board,” Ellington said. “We’ve just been so fortunate, because we have such a great board, and everybody’s worked very hard. We had a lot of musicians that gave of their time to keep it going until we could get back into a better place. We divided and conquered, you could say.”
So impressive has the symphony’s recovery been, in fact, that the board in late 2013 chose to reinstate the position of executive director, electing Ellington - who had served as the board’s vice president of development for the past three years - to take over the position moving forward.
“So it’s important that the community understands that we’re back,” Ellington said of her recent promotion. “There’s a face to the symphony now. There’s somebody they can got to and talk directly with. So things are moving right along.”
Speaking of moving right along, Ellington was quick to praise the symphony’s 2013-14 season as one of the best in recent memory.
For those not in the know, putting on just one concert - let alone an entire season - is an incredibly expensive endeavor for the Elkhart County Symphony, especially when considering the symphony’s not-for-profit status.
“Just straight expenses and so forth runs us somewhere around $80,000 to $100,000 a year,” Ellington said. “The cost varies depending on what the program is, but it’s going to cost us $20,000 to $25,000 a concert on average, and that’s for rental space, personnel, conductors, lodging if you have guests, you’ve got music rental, you’ve got licensing of music, stage hands, lighting, programming, program printing, advertising… the list goes on and on.”
As a not-for-profit organization, the symphony relies primarily on advertising, grants and ticket sales as its main sources of funding - sources that quickly began to dry up as the grip of the Great Recession took hold.
Luckily for the symphony and its patrons, that grip appears to be easing as the improving economy helps to free up more of the disposable income the symphony relies so heavily upon for its programs.
“A large part of the funding that the symphony has received in the last couple of years has been from the local businesses advertising in our playbills,” said Lloyd Kirkpatrick, president of the Elkhart County Symphony’s Board of Directors. “The members of the board have done a miraculous job of going to the local business community and explaining to them the asset they have with the symphony, and how it will benefit them, and asking them if they would like to help continue the symphony by supporting us with their advertising.”
And according to Ellington, the response from area businesses over the past three years has been absolutely phenomenal.
“It’s been excellent. Just excellent,” Ellington said. “I’ve been doing the playbill now for three years, and it just gets bigger and bigger every year.”
Encouraged and elated by the notable turnaround the symphony has experienced over the past three years, Ellington said she can’t wait to see what’s in store for the organization as it moves into the new year and beyond.
“We’re really excited about where we are at this stage,” Ellington said. “For three years we’ve been in the black, and I’ve been here when we didn’t have enough money to send out a letter to ask for donations. So this is huge for us. In addition to that, we’ve also been very blessed by Dean Duncan, a longtime performer with the symphony, who left us a legacy gift. That has given us a big cushion that we didn’t have before.”
Ellington said the board has also begun a campaign encouraging patrons to give money on behalf of the symphony through the Elkhart County Community Foundation.
“So we’re hoping to benefit from some significant grants from them,” Ellington said.
As for her vision for the symphony’s programming moving forward, Ellington said she is very much interested in growing the program to become what she sees as a fresh, relevant and integral part of the cultural landscape of Elkhart County for years to come.
“They type of music, the type of things we listen to and the types of things we watch, the things we hear… they impact our lives in profound ways,” Ellington said. “Good, quality music - interesting music - that’s what grows our community. It also reaches the diverse population that we have. Music speaks to everyone. So for that reason alone it’s so important that we continue to work toward our mission, and really become relevant, and stay relevant, and help our community to recognize what a special place this is. After 66 years, a lot of people have put a lot of sweat and blood into this symphony. We’re not going to let that stop on our watch.”
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Information from: The Goshen News, https://www.goshennews.com
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