Symphony names director

|tab|

The Springfield Symphony Orchestra has a new executive director Carlana Fitch.|ret||ret||tab|

Fitch was named executive director Sept. 17 and brings with her nearly 13 years of experience in the industry.|ret||ret||tab|

"Every once in a while you get lucky. I can't tell you how lucky we feel," said Randy Saul, chairman of the symphony board, of Fitch. The 22-member board discovered Fitch through a national search by the Ameri-can Symphony Orchestra League. She replaces Dana Randall who resigned in early June to go to work for A.G. Edwards & Sons.|ret||ret||tab|

Fitch knows communities like Springfield. She comes from the Lincoln, Neb., symphony, where she served as executive director for two years. Lincoln, Neb., is comparable in size and population to Springfield, she said, and is home to the Uni-versity of Nebraska.|ret||ret||tab|

"Springfield's very fortunate, like Lincoln ... to have a high number of professional-level people who have an interest in classical music or what a symphony can bring to a community," Fitch said. "And they tend to have the financial means by which to support the symphony."|ret||ret||tab|

Saul said that familiarity was a key in Fitch's hiring, along with her experience. "She had been an executive director in the Midwest. ... You bring a real understanding of what we need when you've done that."|ret||ret||tab|

With almost 13 years of executive director experience, Fitch understands the monetary de-mands on a nonprofit arts organization.|ret||ret||tab|

"We are operating completely with other people's money ... through donations, advertising support, corporate sponsors and underwriters, and foundations and grants," Fitch said. "I have always approached this business with the idea that my first responsibility is to run the organization in a fiscally responsible manner."|ret||ret||tab|

The Springfield Symphony operates on a budget of more than $575,000, and each regular season concert costs about $70,000, including $27,238 in musicians' pay. Its payroll includes four full-time administrative employees, 80 musicians and their conductor, Apo Hsu.|ret||ret||tab|

"There are a lot of small businesses in the city of Springfield that don't turn over the kind of money that we do in a year," Fitch said.|ret||ret||tab|

To keep the wheels turning smoothly, Fitch would like to bolster ticket sales. Right now, Springfield Symphony ticket sales are at 32 percent of total revenue a respectable figure by industry standards. Fitch said that anywhere from 28 percent to 35 percent is considered good, yet she would like to increase Spring-field's numbers.|ret||ret||tab|

Next to ticket sales, contributions from corporations and foundations are the second leading revenue generator, at 21 percent. Individual contributions 16 percent of revenues are a close third. However, Fitch is concerned with the recent state of corporate contributions.|ret||ret||tab|

"The days of huge corporate gifts are gone," she said, because of corporate mergers leading to long-distance ownership or partnerships. |ret||ret||tab|

"As more and more companies are merging and moving corporate offices to bigger cities, that takes the decision makers out of the smaller communities and by and large that takes the money." |ret||ret||tab|

Fitch said that when Boeing left Seattle, the city's arts organizations saw a decrease in the millions. She said she is always searching for new sources of revenue, like grants, private donors and contributions from local foundations.|ret||ret||tab|

"Community-based foundations are becoming a very good source of funding for nonprofits," Fitch said. "They appreciate them and they feel a sense of ownership and a sense of pride."|ret||ret||tab|

But in light of last month's terrorist attacks, Fitch is a little worried.|ret||ret||tab|

"Everyone is realizing the trickle-down effects of September 11th are going to affect the performing arts," she said, "... if for no other reason than people just don't have their minds on going to the symphony or supporting it."|ret||ret||tab|

Fitch witnessed such effects first-hand with her symphonies in Oklahoma and Texas during the oil crisis in the late 1980s and early 1990s.|ret||ret||tab|

"We can only hope that once this immediate crisis has passed, the interest and the commitment will still be in the local communities, and I think by and large it will. Americans are wonderful people for coming together in a time of need, but they generally don't forget their local grassroots communities and organizations too."|ret||ret||tab|

Saul agreed, but said Fitch's work is cut out for her.|ret||ret||tab|

"We're challenged just like any other arts organization," he said. Things that vie for a customer's attention are growing everyday. We've got a wonderful skating rink now we've got that to contend with. We're going to have a major league ballpark. ... So you need somebody that's innovative."|ret||ret||tab|

Innovation is part of Fitch's plans. |ret||ret||tab|

"Symphonies nationwide are experiencing what we in the industry refer to as the graying of our audience. Our audiences are getting older," she said. So, planning ahead for the younger audience is "something that we have to think about and it takes a certain amount of innovative programming to do that," Fitch said. |ret||ret||tab|

"I think one of the biggest ways to do that is through extensive youth and educational programs in the schools ... but we also have an obligation and a responsibility to present programming that will attract and be of interest to a various audience base," she said.|ret||ret||tab|

Fitch added that the music of the old masters, like Bach, Beethoven, Mozart and Tchaikovsky, will remain, but 20th century composers like Aaron Copland, Leonard Bernstein, Anton Dvrk, and Joan Towers will be introduced. [[In-content Ad]]