Tag Archives: cincinnati symphony orchestra

Cincinnati Symphony Returns to Pre-Recession Orchestra Size

With the hiring of five new orchestra members, the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra (CSO) has fulfilled its promise to return the orchestra to 90 members. The newly hired positions include principal trumpet, principal clarinet, assistant principal French horn, assistant concertmaster, and a section cello position. CSO musicians are represented by Local 1 (Cincinnati, OH).

Filling these positions increases the orchestra’s complement by 18%. An aggressive endowment campaign announced two years ago supports the restored positions. CSO musician salaries currently rank 10th among US orchestras.

Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra Balances Budget

cincinnatiCincinnati Symphony Orchestra (CSO) announced that it balanced its budget for the sixth consecutive time in fiscal year 2014. Concert attendance for the 2013-2014 season continued an upward trend, increasing by 4%; individual gifts to the annual fund rose by 7% to $2.6 million; and corporate donations rose by 30%. CSO’s endowment is at its all-time high, $114 million. With all of these successes, CSO is close to eliminating its longtime structural deficit, which was $6.5 million in 2009 and is now down to $500,000.

Cincinnati is the smallest US city to support a year-round orchestra. CSO believes its innovative new projects have helped to secure donations and expose the orchestra to new audiences. Lumenocity, a festival of symphonic performances and digital-light displays, was held for the second year last summer, and CSO debuted the MusicNOW festival during the 2013-2014 season, featuring symphonic music, alternative rock, and world premieres.  The musicians’ contract expires in September, and the orchestra anticipates restoring 14 of the 23 tenure-track vacancies that currently exist within future seasons.