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Carole Mikita ReportingOne year ago the Utah Symphony & Opera was in the middle of a financial crisis. Now both management and musicians say there is light at the end of the tunnel.
We reported that the organization hired an outside consultant to examine everything from how to cut the huge deficit to how to bridge the gap between the orchestra's head office and its players.
For only the second time since becoming music director, Keith Lockhart conducts from the orchestra pit for the opera. Puccini's "La Rondine" is a little-known work that even Lockhart wasn't familiar with.
Keith Lockhart, Music Director, Utah Symphony & Opera: "I went home and listened to it, this was a year or so ago, and was just overwhelmed. I'm sitting there, it was kind of pathetic sitting there by myself with tears running down my face, listening to this thing and said, 'I have to do this.'"
And he's only too happy to make a commercial appeal to sell tickets. That marketing move was one of the decisions that came from an outside consultant last year who stepped in when the merged symphony and opera announced a huge deficit and contract troubles. The players say so far, so good.
CEO Anne Ewers, who took a pay cut in that deal, says what a difference a year makes. She thanks the community for its support, both contributions and ticket sales were up in 2005 and the trend continues.
Anne Ewers, CEO Utah Symphony & Opera: "We saw a 15% increase in ticket sales for opera. We saw a 2% increase for ticket sales for symphony, and when you figure our tickets sales for everything, were plummeting in previous years, that's amazing to just not plateau but to bring us back up again."
The opera "La Rondine" opens Saturday and runs through January 22nd. Upcoming concerts for the symphony include one titled "Brahms Alive!" on January 24th.
