2020/2021 Annual Report & Newsletter
YOUR IMPACT IN FOCUS Our music plays on(line) — because of you. Together we found a new way to connect through the power of music. The Seattle Symphony’s recently announced 2022/2023 season marks the orchestra’s third year of producing online performances for audiences in Seattle and around the world. Over the course of the coronavirus pandemic, each of our online concerts has been a source of strength, comfort, and joy for our community — and every shared experience is made possible through your generosity. Turning Benaroya Hall into a production studio and launching our streaming platform, Seattle Symphony Live, was no small feat. High-definition cameras were installed in the S. Mark Taper Foundation Auditorium and equipment was added backstage to mix the video feeds, bringing the at-home concert experience to life. The sights of the orchestra were paired with impeccable high-fidelity audio, mastered by Grammy Award-winning producer and engineer Dmitriy Lipay, to create a dynamic viewing experience. This fall the Symphony upgraded the online concert experience again by introducing new login functionality to make accessing Seattle Symphony Live content easier than ever before. With a new universal login, access is now the same across all Seattle Symphony digital platforms including ticket purchases and streaming content. And this season we’ve expanded access further by presenting free Family Concerts and increasing digital offerings when the Omicron variant kept so many in our community away from the concert hall. As audiences are once again returning to Benaroya Hall, the orchestra remains committed to sharing
our music through Seattle Symphony Live. With your support and in partnership with the M. J. Murdock Charitable Trust, the Symphony looks forward to expanding our digital team and growing our online programming to serve our digital audience, extend our reach, and continue to enhance the at-home viewing experience. Seattle Symphony Live shows what’s possible with your support. We can unleash the power of music and bring our community together even in the face of unprecedented upheaval. From the musicians who found a new virtual stage to the thousands of caring people like you who showed your support, we keep the music playing, together. Thank you!
Coming up on Seattle Symphony Live Tune in for concerts broadcast live from the stage at Benaroya Hall to wherever the music finds you. THURSDAY, APRIL 21, 2022, AT 7:30PM
The Miraculous Mandarin FRIDAY, MAY 20, 2022, AT 8PM
From Purcell to Bach THURSDAY, JUNE 9, 2022, AT 7:30PM
Wayne Marshall Plays & Conducts Gershwin For a complete list up upcoming concerts, visit seattlesymphony.org/live.
You help learning and community move forward. Programs for youth, families and community organizations continue to reach far beyond Benaroya Hall. In the 2020/2021 season the Seattle Symphony reimagined our popular Tiny Tots concert series geared towards our youngest music lovers. The engaging online version, Tiny Clips for Tiny Tots, broadcast on Seattle Symphony Live, became an instant hit with children and adults alike. Tiny Clips host and member of the orchestra’s horn section, John Turman, received a 2021 Ford Musician Award for Excellence in Community Service, recognizing the pivotal role he played in translating this fun-filled program into the digital realm. This season, the Symphony’s programming for young audiences is once again being shared virtually. Thanks to our Family Programs sponsor, the Klorfine Foundation, and our entire donor community, Tiny Clips, Family Concerts and Meet the Instrument broadcasts are all available free to everyone via the Seattle Symphony Live platform. Long-running education programs that thrive on collaboration and handson curriculum have also faced hurdles during the coronavirus pandemic as social distancing kept students and mentors apart. In response, the Merriman-Ross Family Young Composers Workshop brought high school aged composers together to learn and create in a virtual format where workshop participants found a new forum to connect and grow. Link Up, the Symphony’s marquee music education program for students in grades 3–5 also found a new home online. Through digital classroom resources and a virtual concert with the orchestra, Link Up provided many of the same learning opportunities for students, interacting with orchestra musicians and learning the fundamentals of music-making. With a goal of bringing students back to Benaroya Hall for the program’s culminating concert in the 2022/2023 season, this spring Link Up is once again being offered in an online format.
Tiny Clips host John Turman recording a recent episode.
Launching Seattle Symphony Live allowed the orchestra to continue connecting with our audience. The need to reach audiences virtually is not limited to the Symphony. Arts organizations of all kinds struggled to engage their communities during the pandemic. Leveraging our new platform, the Symphony created the Community Stages Fund in January 2021. With the support of the Tagney Jones Family Fund at Seattle Foundation, this effort offers free and subsidized access to the new digital infrastructure in Benaroya Hall and provides a digital venue for partner organizations to share their work. This season the Symphony is preparing for a new round of Community Stages Fund applications with a target of presenting broadcasts in 2023. With the support of people like you and the dedication of our musicians and staff the Symphony has found new and innovative ways to continue delivering core education programs and serve our community. To learn more about these impactful programs that you are helping to make possible, visit us online at seattlesymphony.org/education-and-community. The Seattle Symphony’s Family, School & Community programs are supported by 4Culture, Arakawa Foundation, Marco Argenti, The Klorfine Foundation, Merriman-Ross Family, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Seattle Office of Arts & Culture, the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation, Maryanne Tagney, the Atsuhiko and Ina Goodwin Tateuchi Foundation and individual contributions to the Seattle Symphony Annual Fund.
Through the Community Stages Fund, Key to Change presented their 2021 Solo String Festival virtually.
Financial Report The pandemic period continues to necessitate a range of changes to the Seattle Symphony’s finances. In the 2020/2021 fiscal year a combination of increased philanthropy, federal relief, and expense reductions helped mitigate the impact of reduced tickets sales while creating a reserve to help navigate a period of recovery over the next three to five years. Our recently audited financial statements show that ticket sales decreased to $2M during the 2020/2021 fiscal year. Elevated support from our donor family grew to $18M and government aid surpassed $10M. All of our musicians and staff made personal financial sacrifices to significantly reduce expenses to $20M. These combined efforts allowed the Symphony to pay down its line of credit and establish an operating reserve of $6.8M. While the organization works aggressively in the coming years to return to pre-pandemic levels of ticket sales and programming, as well as full levels of staffing, we expect to rely on these reserves heavily throughout the recovery period. Your increased generosity has been and will continue to be the most critical element in the Symphony’s stability and long-term success. Thank you for your support!
Financial Results Operating Revenue (in thousands)
Fiscal Year 2019/2020
Fiscal Year 2020/2021
Sep. 1, 2019–Aug. 31, 2020 (Audited)
Sep. 1, 2020–Aug. 31, 2021 (Audited)
Tickets and Fees Rental Revenue
10,035
2,176
1,279
239
Annual Fundraising
15,206
18,387
Federal Covid Relief
3,905
10,292
Seattle Symphony Foundation
1,553
1,490
Other Income and Transfers
2,156
1,749
34,134
34,335
25,032
14,574
337
218
3,667
3,345
Total Operating Revenue
Total Earned & Contributed Revenues (Consolidated)
Operating Expenses (in thousands) Program Expenses Education and Community Programs (excluding musicians’ costs) Administration Fundraising Costs Total Operating Expenses Change in Net Assets from Operations Before Operating Reserve Transfer
2,510
2,301
31,586
20,438
2,548
13,896
Transfer to Board Designated Operating Reserves Change in Net Assets from Operations (in thousands)
(6,800) 2,548
7,096
Non-Operating Activity (in thousands) Special Fundraising
1,634
1,249
Depreciation and Amortization
(3,750)
(3,762)
Endowment Investment Return
1,291
3,968
Pension Liability Change
(18)
Transfer in to Board Designated Operating Reserves
4,095 6,800
Total Non-Operating Activity
(842)
12,349
Total Change in Net Assets (in thousands)
1,706
19,445
Operating Expenses (Consolidated)
Together we reimagined and kept the music playing. How your support helped Vice President of Artistic Planning Raff Wilson and the orchestra ensure the music played on. Vice President of Artistic Planning Raff Wilson joined the orchestra in April 2020. Due to the pandemic and travel restrictions, he began his new role from his home in Sydney, Australia, navigating a 17-hour time difference. Only a few weeks prior the Seattle Symphony had announced the 2020/2021 season, but with the closure of Benaroya Hall, years of meticulous planning were suddenly up in the air. The work of reimagining the season began with more questions than answers. “We were asking the same questions that orchestras around the world were asking,” recalls Raff. “How do we do what we do when we can’t sit together on stage? When there’s no audience in the hall?” Throughout the spring and early summer, as the orchestra continued to share music with our community through weekly rebroadcasts, careful behind-the-scenes planning went into every detail of the orchestra’s return. “How many socially distanced people could fit on the stage? At its essence it was a very practical and mathematical process,” says Raff. “We even had to devise an order for the musicians to enter and exit the stage to maintain distance. It was far from routine but finding a way to create music was something to cherish.” Recalling those first rehearsals, Raff says, “that feeling was suddenly striking and new. For those who spend their lives in music, hearing it live for the first time again — the feeling was incredible.” What followed was the orchestra’s first fully digital season. By the following spring, small, socially distanced audiences began returning to Benaroya Hall, bringing musicians and audience together again after a separation of more than 14 months. With the 2021/2022 season the full orchestra is once again performing together on stage and regular audiences have returned to Benaroya Hall to experience live music once more. This reunion was made possible by the support of our Symphony community — by generous people like you.
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And audiences have been treated to some outstanding performances this season, including violinist Ray Chen’s memorable debut with the orchestra, and new Seattle Symphony commissions and world premiere performances. “In Seattle people have open ears and are interested in hearing new music,” Raff says. “There’s this spirit of being on the frontier, of being on the edge of possibility.” The relaunch of programming in Benaroya Hall’s immersive Octave 9: Raisbeck Music Center is another highlight of the current season. With the 2022/2023 season just announced, the future of the orchestra is bright. “Monumental works by Gustav Mahler, Tan Dun and Dmitri Shostakovich are the keystones of our programming next season,” says Raff, “but at its heart — as always — are our magnificent Seattle Symphony musicians, taking center stage in concerts that celebrate the best of symphonic music.” To learn more about upcoming concerts and the new 2022/2023 season, visit seattlesymphony.org. Octave 9: Emerging Artists is supported by the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation. Performances of Tan Dun: Buddha Passion are generously underwritten by Jeff and Rita Xiong.
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