The world-renowned Philadelphia Orchestra, long considered one of the best in the nation, will be filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
Board chairman Richard Worley said members made a nearly unanimous vote Saturday to file for reorganization in a federal bankruptcy court in Philadelphia after a "long meeting, thoughtful meeting, emotional meeting."
"We're running low on cash, we're running a deficit, and we have to put ourselves in a position to attract investment funds to help us," Worley told reporters.
Allison Vulgamore, president and chief executive officer, also cited a "tremendous decline" in audiences over the past five years.
Officials stressed, however, that concerts would go on as scheduled, including the evening's performance of a Mahler symphony. And they said a revitalization campaign was planned to increase revenues by about two-thirds and bring in new art and audiences.
Orchestra musicians who object to a bankruptcy filing distributed leaflets to the audience before Thursday night's concert, calling such an action "unnecessary" and saying it would have "both an immediate and a long-term devastating impact" on the orchestra. Union officials and others have cited the orchestra's $140 million endowment, but Vulgamore said use of that money was restricted.
"Thank heavens it's there, it's the future we have to live off of," she said. "If we take that money now, then we frankly don't have annual monies to keep going."
