Philadelphia Orchestra: Is Anyone Listening?
Filed by KOSU News in Business. April 22, 2010 This week, the Philadelphia Orchestra begins a tour of Korea, Japan and China. For the orchestra, it may be a welcome vacation from problems at home. Sagging attendance and ballooning deficits have raised the possibility of bankruptcy. Philadelphia’s was the first American orchestra to perform in Communist China, back in 1973, and it’s still considered one of the top ensembles in the country. But lately, the Philadelphia Orchestra is having a tough time filling seats. At some recent concerts, the hall has been just two-thirds full. “You can’t believe things are going well when, as a musician, you walk out onto stage and you see a hall that’s that empty,” says Peter Dobrin, a classical-music critic at the Philadelphia Inquirer. Steep Decline An orchestra that was selling close to 90 percent of its tickets three years ago is selling only 70 percent now. Philadelphia is hardly the only orchestra that’s seeing a drop-off in ticket sales during
