Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra posts $141-K surplus

Angela Birdsell is venturing out on a high note.

Last year, the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra executive director, who in August announced she would not be renewing her WSO contract, had a hard time seeing light at the end of the tunnel.

The WSO was facing a $1.3-million budget gap, which Birdsell says seemed intractable at a time when the orchestra’s board-designated COVID reserve was used up. To boot, the WSO was carrying forward a $250,000 deficit from the previous season.

This week, the WSO announced at its annual general meeting that the orchestra is closing its 2024/25 books with an operating surplus of $140,919.

“There were many times over the course of the year in which I said to my administrative team, ‘We are now right in the moment we most feared over the past three years,’” Birdsell said in a release.

“‘And yet we are still here, concerts still go on, we are breathing and have a roof over our heads. We are still OK, and we are still moving forward.’”

The WSO reports that ticket sales in 2024/25 season rose by 30 per cent over the year before, reaching 81 per cent of pre-pandemic levels. (In 2023-23, Orchestras Canada reported that attendance levels for Canadian orchestras were down 25 per cent from 2018-19.)

An all-time high in individual contributions also helped push the WSO into the black, supported by an increase in large donations and bequests — with a guiding hand from the philanthropists, connected business people and culturati who serve on the WSO’s board.

“So many (board) members stepped up to help — sharing contacts who would sponsor a performance, hosting a fundraiser, attending events and providing personal financial support in significant amounts,” Birdsell said.

Canadian orchestras have historically relied on government support for a significant portion of their operating budget, with the arm’s-length organization Canada Council for the Arts being the most important of these funding sources.

Canada Council’s announcement in 2024 that it was lowering spending by about $9.98 million by 2026-27 and beyond (with incremental annual decreases every year until then) has compelled many cultural organizations to become resourceful about securing new sources of government support.

Birdsell recognized Winnipeg Mayor Scott Gillingham and the Manitoba Arts Council — bolstered by a $1-million budgetary increase last year from the Province of Manitoba after two decades of static funding — for further support, as well as the federal Prairies Economic Development Canada (PrairiesCan.)

While PrairiesCan does not provide open-ended operational grants, as the arts councils do, it can support program-specific funding for cultural organizations on the Prairies.

The WSO says its newfound financial health also demanded some belt-tightening.

“The musicians accepted a very lean four-year contract, which meant a temporary reduction in the number of working weeks, with the intention to build back up over time,” WSO board president Curt Vossen said in the release.

“Our administrative team has taken a hit as well. We achieve our exceptional artistic, production, marketing, fundraising and administrative output with 65 per cent of the staffing contingent of other orchestras in our class.”

conrad.sweatman@freepress.mb.ca