The Prince George Symphony Orchestra is at least halfway towards its "all or nothing" goal of trimming $150,000 from its debt by the end of the fiscal year, says executive director Elizabeth Aman-Hume.
The ledger for the season so far has left Aman-Hume optimistic the objective can be reached but she also warns that failing to do so will mean the PGSO won't be around to celebrate its 40th anniversary in 2010-11.
"It's all about cash flow, right now," she said Thursday. "Our budget includes what was unearned income from last year but it was spent last year. Money that came in that was supposed to last us two years because of our cash flow was spent before the end of last year."
For example, she said two years worth of direct access gaming grants from the provincial government were all spent last season. By the end of a disastrous 2008-09, the PGSO saw its debt more than double to $252,000.
"It's kind of a tricky balancing game because the budget is one thing, the cash flow is another. The budget (for this season) looks really good but the cash flow is trying to make up for things that happened in the past."
Heading into December, $75,000 had been raised over and above what had been needed to meet the operating budget by that point. Aman-Hume believes the number will be even larger once the accounting for December is completed due to higher-than-budgeted ticket sales for Messiah, which sold out, and Nutcracker, which hit 95-per-cent capacity.
And as an added bonus, PGSO received an unexpected Christmas gift.
"On my last day in the office just before Christmas -- I was the only one in there, I had given everyone else the day off and I was just cleaning my office trying to get organized for the new year -- and this woman comes in and wrote us a cheque for $10,000," she said.
Not including Nutcracker, a co-production with Judy Russell's Enchainement Dance Centre, attendance at the main stage concerts averaged 70 per cent of capacity, compared to about 50 per cent last season.
Heading into the season's second half, pre-sales for the four coming main stage concerts are looking healthy according to Aman-Hume. Ticket sales above 450 for each concert will go towards the debt.
It's all left Aman-Hume in an upbeat mood.
"If we can sell an extra 150 seats for each of our four remaining concerts, that should bring in about another $15,000," she said. "And judging by the way the first half of the season went, I see that as very doable."
But she also noted that $5,000 sponsors are needed for two of those concerts.
"The sponsorship was probably the hardest area this year for raising money," she said. "A lot of the money that we were able to raise came from individuals. Because of the economy everybody's hurting a bit right now."
The next main stage concert is on Sat., Feb. 6 at Vanier Hall, 7:30 p.m. start, when the orchestra
performs Mussorgsky's "Pictures at an Exhibition" and the guest musician is pianist Iman Habibi. It will be followed on Sun., Feb. 7, also at Vanier Hall, 3 p.m. start, with an encore performance of "Pictures and an Exhibition" featuring a slideshow of artwork and photographs from local youth.
Tickets are available at Studio 2880.
mnielsen@pgcitizen.ca
