Abstract
Program decisions by symphony orchestra management are influenced by various factors. To examine these factors, we create an objective index of the propensity of a symphony orchestra to perform the standard repertoire. We use regression analysis to examine factors that influence programming decisions of 64 US symphony orchestras in 2006–2007, including public and private sources of funding. We find that increased funding from ticket sales, endowments, and local government increases the likelihood that an orchestra will perform nonstandard repertoire. In addition, the results suggest that a symphony orchestra’s music director does not have a significant impact on the degree of program conventionality.
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Notes
Historically, new compositions have often been poorly accepted initially. For example, at the 1913 premier in Paris of Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring, the audience erupted into a yelling and fighting mob during the performance. Today, the Rite of Spring is considered to be one of the most important compositions in the entire repertoire and performed regularly by major SOs.
The studies that use a similar measure of conventionality are discussed on pages 7 and 8.
Earned income includes income from performances (ticket sales, broadcasting, and recordings, e.g.) and other earned income. Impresario activities and education projects are examples of other earned income.
The definitions of performance sources and concert income could change by context. Some examples of non-performance sources are as follows: an annual fund, endowment income, government funding, gift shop items, recordings, posters, food, beverage, and parking. Examples of concert income include ticket sales, sponsorships, program book ads, and concert fees.
Because private contributions to nonprofit organizations such as SOs are tax deductible and arts institutions are exempt from local property tax in the United States, government contributes an additional amount, indirectly.
Schulze and Rose (1998) find that public funding for German orchestras increases with population size and public budgets.
There are four broad, stylistic categories of classical compositions by which most compositions performed by SOs can be categorized as follows: baroque (from 1600 to 1750), classical (from 1750 to1830), romantic (from 1830 to 1910), and modern (from 1900 to present) (Grout 1973).
This calculation is based on the LAO’s definition of a composition composed within the last 25 years as contemporary. By this definition, some composers could have compositions that would be defined as contemporary and others that are not.
Government provides an average of 6% of opera revenues (Pierce 2000, p. 46).
We count each time a work was performed, so if the orchestra gives three performances of Brahms 1st Symphony over a weekend series, e.g., this counts as three times. The final SRI value is the mean of the values of the individual compositions SRI. Two major SOs—the New York Philharmonic and the Dallas Symphony—did not report repertoire and are not included in this study. Counting each time that a work is performed may bias the index if a SO repeats a composition numerous times.
The small community orchestras (the Columbia Orchestra in Eliot City, MD, e.g.) we refer to here may perform four concerts a year and are comprised of amateur musicians very often. The challenge to the orchestra and the audience of non-standard repertoire preclude the likelihood that the orchestra would perform anything but standard works.
A reviewer notes that the low standard deviation may be the result of the larger number of performances of Group 1 orchestras giving a less-biased estimate of the value.
We calculate the percentage of contemporary compositions performed by the SOs in this sample in order to examine which SOs are more likely to perform modern compositions.
The LAO provided the SO financial data and other specific variables for this study.
Performance funds include concert revenues as well as revenue from broadcasts and recordings, which generate revenue for major SOs only, generally.
The total number of conductors for this calculation was 274.
We matched Leonard Slatkin with the Nashville Symphony where he was artistic advisor. Often, a SO will be without a designated conductor when it is in the process of hiring a new conductor. The SO will audition conductors during the season.
Payroll is adjusted for the cost of living in the SO’s metropolitan area.
We examined several other variables that were not included in the final regressions. Although several variables were insignificant, multicollinearity may be responsible. Unemployment, education, budget, size of the hall, and attendance were deleted due to their insignificance. Attendance, advertising, budget, quality, number of subscriptions, the percentage of ticket revenue, and percentage of total performance were all correlated with group 1 SOs, although hall was not. We used revenue from ticket sales but not broadcasting and recording performances, which few nonmajor SOs receive. SO quality and budget size were correlated. Variables which were tested but not included because they were insignificant were population and the age of the orchestra.
Flanagan (2008, p. 57) finds that private contributions increase in locations with higher populations and incomes, although higher unemployment rates have no effect.
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Pompe, J., Tamburri, L. & Munn, J. Factors that influence programming decisions of US symphony orchestras. J Cult Econ 35, 167–184 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10824-011-9142-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10824-011-9142-6