The Mid-Columbia Symphony has an abbreviated slate of concerts this year as it works to build up its resources amid financial instability. 

After 81 years, the symphony, launched during Hanford times, is taking a new look at the way it connects with audiences and donors as it seeks stability for the future.

Financial sustainability

During the Covid-19 pandemic, when the symphony and other arts organizations were struggling to keep their doors open, a handful of donors stepped up to support the group. 

They provided a cushion during the pandemic when the symphony worked to come back after a hiatus, said Adrienne Fletcher, interim music director and director of the Mid-Columbia Youth Orchestra. With that donor support, the organization lost sight of the need to diversify funding sources, she said.

The symphony came to a crossroads when the major donors said that they needed to step down: the group could go on another hiatus, or it could try something different. 

Since then, they’ve been taking a close look at their finances, figuring out how to be clearer and more engaging with donors and where they can reduce costs. 

The symphony depends largely on donations and grants to cover its heavy production costs.

In 2023-24, the symphony spent $408,679, according to the nonprofit’s IRS tax filing, and as the board works to cut down expenses, it will need a minimum of $155,000 for this year’s budget, with a goal of raising $200,000 to start the 2026-27 season strong.

“It would set us off with no panic,” said Christine McKinnon, board member, executive secretary and parent chair of the youth orchestra, in an email.

Tickets to the symphony cost between $20 to $75, often with student and group discounts, and yet this only makes up about a quarter of the symphony’s funds. 

Throughout the season, the symphony hires between 65 and 100 musicians, rents out venues, and buys or rents music.

It’s a professional symphony, not a community one, so musicians come from across the state, and even a few outside of it, to play, relying on the symphony to provide homestays or hotel bookings on concert weekends as they practice and perform. 

Funding goals

The organization had a short-term goal of raising $30,000 by the end of September. One donor offered to match up to $30,000 in donations from new donors, or those who didn’t contribute any money last year.

Once people have heard about the symphony’s need, they’ve been responsive. The symphony raised nearly $52,000, plus an additional $30,000 from the match for a total of $82,000, surpassing its original $30,000 goal. 

Many contributions were between $25 and $500, Fletcher said. They’re “kind of your everyday donors, the ones that come to the concerts, that love to give some of their income but are maybe not large-scale donors,” she said. “And it’s been really encouraging to see that come through.”

Long term, the symphony is seeking enough funds to provide greater stability. Not only does the organization want to sustain its momentum through the next season, but “the next 80 seasons,” McKinnon said.

While the symphony participates in a yearly fundraiser that supports multiple arts organizations throughout the Tri-Cities, this year some of the musicians drove the advent of a new fundraiser dubbed “Musical Chairs.” The Sept. 21 event raised about $27,000 in sponsorships. 

The symphony is working to encourage more sponsorships as they help show donors where their money will go, like sponsoring a specific instrument or section – woodwinds or brass, for example – and can help them feel more connected to the symphony’s work. 

Fletcher said that the symphony would love to partner with more small businesses, too, as a part of their diversification efforts. Part of that opportunity would be putting ads in the symphony’s programs, which used to happen more often in the past. Businesses could also sponsor an entire concert.

Engaging audiences

But donors and businesses aren’t the only ones the symphony is hoping to engage. Capturing audiences, especially in a post-Covid world, is key. 

Moving forward, the symphony plans a reduced season this year as the group focuses on fundraising and prepares to replace its music director.

The symphony will perform three concerts instead of its standard five, focusing on things that are fun and feel familiar, Fletcher said. 

For the first concert of this year’s season, Fletcher has planned a lineup of popular and movie music themed around Halloween. But it won’t be like any ordinary concert – in the midst of the “spooky revelry,” a murder mystery must be solved with help from the audience and orchestra working together. 

The symphony’s Christmas concert will feature the Mid-Columbia Mastersingers, and the spring concert will include winners of the symphony’s Young Artist Competition. 

Interview season

Fletcher is stepping up as the interim music director this year following the retirement of Nicholas Wallin, who served as the symphony’s director for 17 years. 

With a shortened season, the symphony hopes to secure enough resources to hold a proper interview season next year. This means the symphony has each of its finalists conduct a concert, and the whole season will be made up of guest conductors. To properly do this, each finalist needs to have the same resources and support.

Each candidate gets a $5,000 stipend and a budget to be used for getting music, renting a venue, bringing on guest artists and paying musicians. Different pieces of music might be more expensive or require more musicians.

“You can’t say, ‘Oh, well, we have a lot of money now, you can do this,’ and the other one say, ‘Well I’m sorry, you can’t do that, because we don’t have the resources,’” said Don Baer, a board member. “So we need to get to a sustainable level so that we can have a fair and equal competition.”

The symphony has already gone through much of the process but has had to pause in making final selections because of this year’s financial challenges.

With this year’s abbreviated season and fundraising efforts, the symphony hopes to have enough resources to sustain next year’s interview season and many more seasons yet to come.

An 81-year-old organization is worth preserving, Fletcher said, and the spirit of the Hanford workers who created the symphony in 1945 is still alive today. 

Her hope for the symphony is “that tough times really are about pulling together and pushing through and letting go of the things that don’t work and embracing the things that may feel different but do … and finding that new and more beautiful and more strong version of what you have after.”

Go to: midcolumbiasymphony.org.