Musical Chairs

The Philadelphia Orchestra survived the entire 20th century, two world wars, the Great Depression and Hooked on Bach.  It did not survive Goldman Sachs.

The Philadelphia Orchestra filed for bankruptcy protection after 111 years of operation to restructure leases, contracts and agreements.

The company listed both assets and debt of as much as $50 million in a Chapter 11 petition filed yesterday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Philadelphia.

“Revenues and going concern value have steadily declined over the past several years, like countless other performing arts enterprises,” attorneys for the orchestra said in court papers.

The orchestra, founded in 1900, said its board voted to seek bankruptcy. Affiliates including the Academy of Music and Encore Series, also sought protection.

The orchestra operates at a loss because of declining ticket revenues, decreased donations, eroding endowment income, pension obligations, contractual agreements, and increased operational costs, it said in a press release. Last night’s performance of Mahler’s Symphony No. 4 went on as scheduled, and no performances have been canceled. 

For now, anyway.  That will change, I'm betting.  But more and more art, musical, and cultural venues like this are going by the wayside.  Cities, counties, and states are saying "we can't afford this" and saying "let's cut taxes!" instead.

So what are the people who can afford it doing?

Bon, who is an orchestra geek herself, will cover more of this tomorrow.