ESO tunes up for tough economic times

To avoid the financial pitfalls experienced by many symphony orchestras throughout the United States, the Elgin Symphony is being proactive during the economic slowdown.

The ESO posted a modest surplus for the fiscal year ending last June 30, and first-year chief executive officer Dale J. Lonis remains optimistic that unlike many performing arts organizations, the ESO will continue to grow and thrive. The orchestra's 60th season opens the weekend of Oct. 3-4.

"We just want to make sure people get the message that we are cognizant of the economic times, but even beyond that, we're making an effort to make this symphony orchestra more accessible to the public," Lonis said. "We believe in community engagement."

Here are a few things the ESO has done to meet this challenge:

• Renewals or new subscriptions for the 2009-10 season be available for this season's final prices if done by April 19. This offer has been in place for several weeks and has been enthusiastically received. In addition to the box office, lobby subscription tables for next weekend's all-Mozart concerts and the "Big Band Blast" pops concerts April 17-19 will be open for business.

• Subscribers are being offered an installment plan: Pay half the subscription up front, then pay the balance three months later.

• After the April 19 deadline, overall ticket prices are higher next season, but it's just an incremental increase. "The mistake many orchestras have made is that they'll say, 'We're worried about sales, so we're going to freeze our prices for a year,'" Lonis said. "Well, what happens with that is costs still keep going up and all of a sudden they find themselves two years down the road having to make a tremendous bump in prices, and their audiences are not ready for it."

• There is an increased inventory of lower-priced tickets, with the philosophy that it's better to fill the seats than have them empty. This is a strategy the Ravinia Festival has successfully used in recent years to attract more people to Chicago Symphony Orchestra concerts.

"We've rescaled our hall to make the beauty of symphonic music more accessible, by adding over 100 seats to our lowest ticket prices," Lonis said.

For the Schaumburg Series next season, the six-concert series will see two of those concerts moved from the Prairie Center for the Arts to Hemmens Theatre. They are the Benny Goodman birthday tribute Nov. 20 and the "Stay Tuned" salute to early TV commercials by the Five by Design vocal quintet on Feb. 19. A reason for the switch is that backstage logistics are a better fit at Hemmens.

Also offered is a four-concert Schaumburg series without those two concerts, giving patrons a lower-cost choice if they don't want to travel to Elgin.

"We actually did a little research and talked to our Schaumburg audiences," Lonis said. "I speak to almost every patron who walks in the door and I thank them as they leave. At our last Schaumburg concert, they told me they were very excited about next season, and they actually appreciated knowing why we did what we did. They said, 'We're having four here, but we're able to go to Elgin for the other two concerts if we want to.' They like that option."

According to director of marketing and communications Michael Frisco, "We're running about half and half with people in Schaumburg opting for the six concert series or the four-concert series."

Lonis has high praise for Frisco and his marketing and sales team.

"We've been holding our own on ticket sales and targets so far, but we know it's getting tougher and tougher out there for people who are losing their jobs. We've met our subscription goals - surpassed them, actually - but now the rest of this season is all single-ticket sales. So we're just working hard to not lose any ground on those ticket-sales targets."

Lonis admits corporate gifts have been dented by the economy, but he remains optimistic.

"What's really great about this community is that for a long time it has embraced this orchestra," he said. "So, even when corporations are laying off people, they still understand that it's a different budget, and they're still supporting us. We have to be very careful to manage our assets and our resources, and we're cautiously optimistic. We have a loyal individual donor base and a very loyal patronage. I talk with them after the concerts and they're just beaming and happy to do whatever they can to maintain this high level of artistry."

For information about the ESO, call (847) 888-4000 or visit elginsymphony.org.