Good morning! My name is Alan Jordan; I am the Executive Director - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Good morning! My name is Alan Jordan; I am the Executive Director for the Vermont Symphony Orchestra. Thank you for providing me with the opportunity to report on your Vermont Symphony Orchestra. Last year, I related to you the story of one Susi Learmonth, of East Corinth. She served as a regional trustee from the Upper Valley, and was instrumental, rather single-handedly, in ensuring that SymphonyKids educational outreach activities would take place every year in eastern Orange County schools. As expected, Susi ended her fight with cancer on August 31st last year, having enjoyed a remarkable life of nearly 88 years. The Thetford Hill church was packed beyond capacity for Susi’s service, complete with lots of music, including a VSO string trio. The Susi Learmonth SymphonyKids Upper Valley Fund, a permanent fund within the VSO’s endowment, stood at nearly $80,000 as of December 31, 2013, providing enough funding to completely underwrite ten Musicians-in-the-School performances

• annually. Now, there is a legacy!

I will share with you another story. Our Summer Festival Tour brings the Vermont Symphony to idyllic outdoor settings across our beautiful state in late June and early July each year. Without question, it is our most popular offering, drawing audiences totaling more than 10,000. It is a celebration of music, family, food, drink, Vermont beauty, and Americana. It is also a significant money-maker for the Orchestra—that is, when Mother Nature cooperates. In 2013, only three of our eight concerts were able to be held outside. Two of those moved indoors were not because of rain falling that day, but because parking lots or concert fields were too soggy. The tour, with a memorable program of music from the Great American Songbook (possibly the best program never heard by many), resulted in a revenue shortfall of $90,000— in month eleven of our fiscal year, when little correction could be made. In my fifteen years at the VSO, this was the worst situation ever! Our conductor dubbed it the Sweaty High School Gymnasium tour. There is a silver lining: following the tour, we sent a letter out to our 1,200 donors asking them to consider making additional gifts to help us cover this shortfall. Astoundingly, 130 households made gifts totaling nearly $36,000, including three gifts of $5,000 each! This is a testament to the strength of our organization, and to the value Vermonters place on the VSO.

The materials sent to you in advance include reference to our financial results of last season: with a $56,000 operating loss last year, we now manage an accumulated deficit of $417,000. Please note: this is not an external debt. The deficit represents

• n paper the amount of money the VSO has brought in net of its operating

expenditures over its 79-year lifetime. How do we cover this gap? Much of it is through cash flow management, with help from a line of credit to accommodate our annual ebb and flow cash cycle. Perspective is also required: while what the public sees is the Symphony’s concert operations across Vermont, we also undertake

• ccasional special projects and oversee a sizeable endowment. Indeed, that

$417,000 accumulated operating deficit represents only 8-½% of our total assets of almost $4.9 million. Finally—and not to get too technical—GAAP (or Generally Accepted Accounting Principals) require non-profits to count investment losses as unrestricted, or operating, losses; while investment gains are considered temporarily

• restricted. Although the reasoning for this is understandable, it can create a

misleading presumption. Our FY13 audit shows that $417,000 operating deficit, but there is also a temporarily restricted surplus in excess of $1 million. Please rest assured that the VSO is on firm financial ground.

You will note on our presentation that we budget for an operating surplus, and we will continue that strategy as a way to slowly reduce our deficit over time. As the chart shows, this deficit has contracted and expanded during the last 15 years. Before the recession, we were getting close to eliminating it entirely, and we started making progress again before the last two years. Some in our organization question what level of priority we place on eliminating the deficit: while it adds another complication, it does not prevent us from fulfilling our mission. As an organization, we are committed to reducing and eliminating the deficit; however, we will not substantially alter or curtail our operations to hasten that outcome.

I would like to share one clarification to our presentation: the map that shows over 300 community partners during the 2010-2012 period includes not only schools, but

• ther non-profits, social service and religious organizations, and businesses that

work with the VSO to present great music in their communities.

Vermont Symphony Orchestra Community Partners: The VSO partners with more than 300 schools, colleges and universities, cultural and social service organizations, faith-based groups, government entities, corporations, and foundations.

Vermont Symphony Orchestra Partners

Between 2010-12, the VSO’s more than 300 partners included the following cultural and social service organizations, faith-based groups, government entities, corporations/foundations, colleges/universities, and schools:

CULTURAL ORGANIZATIONS Barre Opera House Brattleboro Museum and Art Center, Inc. Burlington City Arts Champlain Valley Exposition Chandler Music Hall Flynn Center for the Performing Arts Haskell Opera House Henry Sheldon Museum, The Hildene Paramount Center, Inc. Pentangle Council on the Arts Shelburne Farms Shelburne Museum Stowe Performing Arts Tunbridge World's Fair Vergennes Opera House Vermont Youth Orchestra Association SOCIAL SERVICE ORGANIZATIONS Boys and Girls Club of Brandon Castleton Community Center Chittenden Emergency Food Shelf Our Place Drop In Center Pownal Headstart Rutland Food Shelf FAITH-BASED GROUPS Brandon Congregational Church First Congregational Church Grace Church & Little Lambs Salisbury Congregational Church Warren United Church White Church, The GOVERNMENT ENTITIES City of Bellows Falls South Burlington Library Town of Stowe Vermont State House CORPORATIONS OR FOUNDATIONS Gardener's Supply Heritage Flight Aviation Higher Ground Jay Peak Resort Lodge at Shelburne Bay Senior Living Community Mountain Top Inn New England Federal Credit Union Oak Hill Children's Center Quechee Lakes Landowners Association Seven Days Sugarbush Resort Suicide Six Ski Area Three Stallion Inn Trapp Family Lodge Vermont Festivals, LLC Wake Robin Windham Foundation Woodstock Inn. COLLEGES & UNIVERSITIES Castleton State College Johnson State College Lakefield College School Lyndon State College Middlebury College

• St. Michael's College

University of Vermont SCHOOLS Academy School Addison Central School Albany Community School Albert Bridge School Alburgh Elementary School Allen Brook School Arlington Middle School Athens/Grafton Elementary Bakersfield Elementary Barnard Academy Barnet Elementary Barre City Elementary Barre Town Elementary Barstow Memorial School Barton Graded School Beeman Elementary Bellows Falls Central School Bellows Falls Middle & High Schools Bellows Free Academy Fairfax Bellows Free Academy-St. Albans Bennington Elementary Benson Village School Berkshire Elementary School Berlin Elementary School Bernice Ray Elementary Bethel Elementary School Bingham Memorial School Bishop Marshall School Blue Mountain Union School Bradford Academy Braintree Elementary Brewster Pierce Elementary Bridge School Bridgewater Village School Bridport Central School Brighton Elementary Bristol Elementary Brookfield Elementary Brookline Elementary School Brownington Central School Burke Town School Burr and Burton Academy Cabot Elementary Calais Elementary School Cambridge Elementary Castleton Elementary School Cavendish Town Elementary School Chamberlin Elementary Champlain College Champlain Elementary School

Vermont Symphony Orchestra Partners (continued)

Champlain Valley Christian Champlain Valley Union High School Charleston Elementary Charlotte Central School Chelsea Elementary School Chester-Andover Elementary Christ the King School Clarendon Elementary Concord Graded School Coventry Village School CP Smith Elementary Craftsbury School Crossett Brook Middle School Currier Memorial Danville Elementary Danville High School Deerfield Elementary Derby Elementary Dothan Brook School Doty Memorial School Dover Elementary Dummerston Elementary E Taylor Hatton School

• E. Montpelier Elementary School

Eden Central School Edmunds Elementary/Middle School Elm Hill Elementary Enosburg Falls Elementary Essex Elementary School Essex Middle School Fair Haven Grade School Fairfield Center School Fairfield Elementary Fayston Elementary Ferrisburgh Central School Fisher Elementary School Fletcher Elementary Folsom Educational Center Franklin Central School Frederick Tuttle Middle School Georgia Elementary School Gilman Middle School Glover Community School Grafton/Athens Contract School Grammar School, The Grand Isle Elementary Green Street Guilford Central School Halifax Elementary Hardwick Elementary Hartford High School Hartland Elementary School Hazen Union Middle/High School Hiawatha Elementary Highgate Elementary Hinesburg Community School Hunt Middle School Hyde Park Elementary Integrated Arts Academy at HO Wheeler Irasburg Village School Jamaica Village School Jay/Westfield Elementary Jericho Elementary JFK Elementary JJ Flynn Elementary Johnson Elementary School Killington Elementary School Lake Region Union High School Lakeview Union Elementary Lamoille Union High School Lawrence Barnes School Lawrence School for Young Children Leicester Central School Lincoln Community School Lothrop Elementary School Lowell Graded School Ludlow Elementary Lyndon Institute Lyndon Town School Malletts Bay Elementary Manchester Elementary/Middle Marion Cross Elementary Marlboro Elementary School Mary Hogan Elementary Mettawee Community School Middletown Springs Elementary Mid-Vermont Christian School Miller's Run Elementary Milton Elementary Missisquoi Valley Union High School Molly Stark Elementary Monkton Central School Montgomery Elementary School Monument Elementary Moretown Elementary Morristown Elementary Mount Abraham Union High School

• Mt. Holly Elementary
• N. Bennington Graded School

Neshobe Elementary School Newbrook School Newbury Elementary Newport City Elementary Newport Town School Newton Elementary North Country Junior High School North Country Union High School North Hero Elementary Northfield Elementary Oak Grove Elementary Orchard Valley Waldorf School Orleans Elementary Orwell Village School Ottauquechee Elementary Peacham Elementary Pomfret Elementary Porter's Point School Poultney Elementary Pownal Elementary Proctor Elementary School Proctor High School Putney Central School Randolph Elementary School Randolph Union High School Renaissance School Richford Elementary Richmond Elementary Richmond School Rick Marcotte Central School

Vermont Symphony Orchestra Partners (continued)

Ripton Elementary School Rivendell Academy Riverside Middle School Robinson Elementary Rochester School Rock Point School Rockingham Central School Roxbury Village School Rumney Elementary Rutland Intermediate School Rutland Middle School Rutland Northeast Primary School Rutland Northwest Primary Rutland Town School

• S. Royalton Elementary

Salisbury Community School Samuel Morey Elementary School Saxtons River Elementary Shaftsbury Elementary Sharon Elementary Shelburne Community School Sheldon Elementary Sherburne Elementary Shoreham Elementary School Shrewsbury Mountain School Smilie Memorial School South Royalton Elementary Springfield High School

• St. Albans City School
• St. Albans Town School
• St. Francis Xavier School
• St. Johnsbury Academy
• St. Johnsbury Schools
• St. Mary's School
• St. Paul's School
• St. Pius HomeSchool

Stamford Elementary School Stockbridge Central School Stowe Elementary School Stowe High School Sudbury's Country School Summit Street School Sunderland Elementary Sustainability Academy at Lawrence Barnes Sutton Village School Swanton Central Thatcher Brook Elementary Thetford Elementary Thomas Fleming Elementary Tinmouth Elementary School Townshend Village School Townshend Village School Troy Elementary Tunbridge Central School Twinfield Union Elementary Underhill Central School Underhill ID Elementary Union Elementary School Union Memorial School Union Street School United Christian Academy Vergennes Union Elementary School Vergennes Union High School Vernon Elementary School Waits River Valley Elementary Waitsfield Elementary School Walden Elementary School Wallingford Village School Wardsboro Elementary Warren Elementary Washington Village School Waterford Elementary Waterville Elementary Weathersfield School Websterville Baptist Christian Wells Village School West Rutland Elementary Westford Elementary Westminster Center School Westshire Elementary Weybridge Elementary Whitingham Elementary Williamstown Elementary Williston Central School Winooski Middle School Wolcott Elementary School Woodbury Elementary School Woodford Hollow School Woodstock Elementary School Woodstock Union High School

Every component of the VSO is challenged by the uncertainty of our economy. Donors weigh the likelihood of an improved environment when deciding their gifts. Ticket buyers defer purchasing decisions. Companies cut sponsorship budgets as a

• safeguard. Foundations change giving priorities to address the latest socio-

economic and research trends. These challenges, which are felt by most non-profits, put into question the flow of our “life-blood;” the four Rs: regular, reliable, repeatable revenue. Our successful endowment campaign helped: we expect to receive 10% of our funding for FY15 through our endowment draw, which is conservatively pegged at 4% of the rolling 12-quarter average of the funds. We should see more than $18,000 in additional funds applied to operations next year through our endowment draw. Likewise, we rely on the annual appropriation from the Vermont legislature to keep up with inflation and permit us to continue subsidizing ticket prices and SymphonyKids fees—reaching more Vermonters, regardless of their financial situation. As promised last year, every penny of the new funds this legislature appropriated for FY14 is being used to provide free concert tickets for families who would otherwise be unable to attend because of financial barriers. Just at our Holiday Pops concert in December, we welcomed 370 members of the Vermont National Guard and their families to celebrate the holidays with the VSO. Never has the regular, reliable, and repeatable support of the state

• f Vermont been so precious.

A few weeks ago, at our regular Governing Board meeting held in the Pavilion Office Building, we began a conversation that may be pivotal to the future of the

• VSO. We all hear of the sensational coverage about our industry: Slate magazine

recently published a diatribe about how classical music wasn’t just dying; it was already dead! Aging audiences are not being replaced by the next generation. Orchestras in America are shutting down. Minneapolis nearly lost its beloved Minnesota Orchestra due to labor turmoil that lasted fifteen months. Short-sighted conductors, managers, and other industry officials got caught up in a silly debate about whether or not women were fit to be conductors. Music critics have been all but relegated to the blogosphere as commercial media replaces coverage of the fine arts with popular culture. It can all be pretty demoralizing. Do we just give up? Or do we give in and start programming more popular concerts, replacing Copland with country/western and Rachmaninoff with rock and roll? Well, my quick answer is,

• no. The Three Bs will always be Bach, Beethoven and Brahms, and their

masterpieces will always be able to inspire and transport listeners. Where we have lost ground is in our public music education; more than a generation of students has lost out on this critical, creative, thought-provoking subject. The head of our national service organization has, perhaps, posed the right question: Is our end goal the live concert? I certainly have my own position currently, but our Orchestra as a whole should wrestle with this and determine what the VSO’s end goal should be. More to come.

We are grateful for the Governor’s recommendation of a 2% increase to our line item for 2015. With the blessing of this committee, your counterparts in the senate and, eventually, the full legislature, the VSO intends to use these new funds to provide more free admission to our concerts for Vermont families who could not

• therwise afford to attend.

Thank you once again for your support and your deliberation of this year’s

• appropriation. I will welcome your reactions and questions, but first want to close

my presentation with another story and some music. Two weeks ago, we celebrated the 20th Anniversary of our 100+-voice, statewide, volunteer VSO Chorus and its founding director, Robert De Cormier, who concluded his tenure and entered retirement at age 92. Robert selected two masterpieces: Johannes Brahms’ German Requiem, and Chichester Psalms by Leonard Bernstein. The latter was the first work prepared and performed by the VSO Chorus in 1994. You are about to hear the second movement. The soloist is Justin Murray, a 12-year old from Calais, Vermont. It is a setting of Psalm 23, “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.” This heart-wrenchingly gorgeous melody is interrupted by the chorus men, asking “Why do the nations rage?” from Psalm 2. The music captures the struggle between beauty and ugliness and how, almost always, these two forces co-exist. Please enjoy.

Lee Krohn Photography, LLC