Contact: Terry Marshall, Public Relations Manager, (520) 792-9155, ext. 119, tmarshall@tucsonsymphony.org, 250-5947 (cell)
(Tucson, AZ)—The Tucson Symphony Orchestra has announced an emergency fundraising bridge campaign. The TSO needs to raise $1 million by the end of 2009 to assure that the organization, as it has for the past 80 years, can continue to provide extraordinary orchestral performances and music education to southern Arizona beyond the 2009/10 season.
The TSO attributes the need for the fundraising campaign to “perfect storm” conditions. Ticket revenue is down. Contributed income, although it started strong last fall, is now trailing and investment revenue has dried up. The just-concluded Luxury Car Raffle, a source of considerable revenue for the past 23 seasons, failed to meet revenue expectations.
The TSO has cut costs as much as possible. It has cut administrative staff and salaries of both staff and musicians, plus has asked guest artists for fee concessions. Any more cuts will seriously threaten the orchestra and the music. In the current economic climate, even with best practice marketing strategies to attract new audiences, selling more tickets is not a short-term possibility.
The TSO has sent an urgent appeal to donors, subscribers and patrons and now seeks support from the general public. The appeal states, “We need your support now if we are to survive the economic turmoil disrupting the TSO’s successful progress on its path to financial stability.”
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