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Home My WebLink AboutM-80-0558001, 0% 11 so* MARSHALL S. HARRIS— Of- FLOOR DADE FEDERAL BUILDING 81 NORTHEAST FIRST AVENUE Mm Ami, FLORIDA00101 ; 1 July 9, 1980 Mr. Joseph Grassie City ?tanager City of Miami 3500 Pan American Drive Miami, Florida, 33133 Dear Joe: A As you can see from the enclosed article, the . Philharmonic is beginning to get it back together. Though our campaign is not over by any means, we have already raised over $2,300,000, including in that total $542,000 to clear current.debts. It is clear that with the kind of community support that we have received the orchestra will clearly survive. However, survival was never our goal. Paying debts was never our goal. The group of us that decided to work on behalf of the orchestra de— cided to do so because Miami needed a good Philharmonic orchestra and Miami could benefit from having one. Those goals have not changed. Ne still seek to build toward quality, but we recognize that we can only do that if we have even greater support from the community at large. We are working on broadening this base but at the same time cannot overlook the various govern- mental entities who over the years have shared some of the benefits the orchestra has brought to this community and who will surely share in the future years the increased benefits of a truly good orchestra. All of this takes money, of course, and that's really the purpose of this letter. We are seeking from the various governmental entities support so that we may face the forthcoming musical season debt free. We would like the City Commission to consider the allocation of $25,000 to the orchestra so that we might accomplish 81-r58 r Mr. J. Grassie(continued) July 9, 1980 Page Two this purpose. If we can provide financial stability for this orchestra there is no limit on the values that can accrue to all of Dade County, but to the City in particular. I would be pleased to appear before the Commission -- to explain both our problems and our progress and would hope that this request might be slated for a Commission agenda in the near future. Very cordially yours, Mar hall S. arris MSH/js , Enclosures P.S. Just to show the type of support, I am enclosing a copy of our roster of contributors to our Crescendo Campaign. It. S.H. 80-558 r CORPORATE CONTRIBUTORS $1,000 & ABOVE Amazon Hose & Rubber Co. American Bancshares, Inc. American S & 1, Association Arky, Freed, Stearns, Watson, & Greer Arvida Corporation Bank of America Internationla Bank of Boston International Barry Martin Pharmaceuticals Beckham, McAliley & Proenza Belcher Oil Company Biscayne Bank Blackwell, Walker, Gray, Powers, Flick & Hoehl Chase Federal S & I. Association Chicago Title Insurance Co. Citibank Interamerica Citizens Federal S & L Asso. Cordis Corporation Dade Federal S & L Asso. Deloitte, Haskins & Sells Esso Interamerica, Inca Exxon Corporation Finley, Kumble, Wagner, Heine & Underberg Florida Equities, Inc. Daniel N. Ileller Law Offices I.R.E. Series II The Keyes Company Oppenheim, Appel, Dixon & Co. Pan American Bank, N.A. , Pan American Land Development Corp. Republic Intl Bank of New York Sears, Roebuck & Co. John S. Sherman Development Corp. Smith, Mandler, Smith, Werner, Jacobowitz & Pried, P.A. Storer Broadcast inj! Co. sttizin & Camner, P.A. Barnett Bank Greenberg, Traurig, Hoffman, Lipoff, Quentel & Wolff Peat, Marwick, Mitchell & Co. Price Waterhouse & Co. Republic National Bank of Miami Southern Bell Telephone Burdines General Development Corporation Inter -American Transport Equipment Co. Burger King Corporation Morgan Guaranty International Bank of Miami Pual, Landy Beiley & Harpee Southeast First National Bank of Miami Foundation of Jewish Philanthropies Fundacion Pro-Infancia de Bogota WCKT Foundation Jack Eckerd Corporation Foundation Ignatz Wohl Family Foundation Alvah H. & Wyline Chapman Foundation Geiger Charity Foundation Rosenstiei Foundation The Graham Foundation Pillsbury Foundation Philip L. Graham Fund Knight Foundation Dunspaugh-Daltot, Foundation Chastain Foundation Air Florida Systems, Inc. Allen Morris Co. American Marine Underwriters Amerifirst S& L Asso. Arthur Andersen & Co. Banana Stipp l y CO., Inc. Barnett Bank Batch -Air, Inc. CORPORATE CONTR. l'age 2/ Beasley & 011e Bertram Yacht Burdines Travel Bureau Burneth Corporation Calder Race Course/Tropical at Calder Candace Mossler Corp. Capital Bank Carnival Cruise Lines Central Bank Colson & Hicks Context Industries, Inc. Dade Savings Diario Las Americas Doran Jason Co. Ernst & Whinney Ferendino, Grafton, Spillis & Candella Financial Federal S & L Asso. First National Bank of Greater Miami Flagler Kennel Club Flagship Bank Flannigan's Enterprises, Inc. Florida Building Services Florida Power & Light Hank Meyer Associates Walter E. Heller & Co. Jartran, Inc. Jefferson National Banks Jefferson Stores Jordan Marsh Key Pharmaceutical, Inc. ' Lennar Corporation L. Luria & Sons MacArthur Dairy Mayor's Jewelers Merrill Lynch Metropolitan Mortgage Co. T.se Miami Herlad The Miami News Miami Center Associates Myers, Kaplan, Levinson, Kenin Richards Raymond D. Nasher Co. National Bank of Florida Neff Machinery, Inc. Northern Trust Intl Bank Norwegian Caribbean Lines Pegasus luggage Peninsula Federal S & L Association Pepsi -Cola Planned Development Corp. Podhurst, Orseck & Parks Republic International Bank Republic National Bank Frank J. Rooney, Inc. Ryder System Severud, Boerema, Buff, Bermello, Inc., SB3 Security Plastics Sharonsteel Foundation Steel Hector & Davis Storer Broadcasting; Suave Shoe United National Banks Western Electric Co. Winn Dixie World Jai -Alai WKAT Hernstadt broadcasting Irving; Trust Company International INDIVIDUAL CONTRIBUTORS $1,000 6 ABOVE Mr. David Balogh Mr. Bernard Bernstein M/M William Binder M/M Max V. Cogen M/M Robert 0. Collins Mrs. Joseph E. Crawley M/M Montgomery Curtis Mr. Salustiano Garcia Diaz M/M David A. Doheny M/M Joseph Z. Fleming M/M Gene Gordon Mr. Lawrence Gould M/M Norman Green Mr. Alan Greer Mr. Richard Haft M/M William Hernstadt Mr. William Lehman, Jr. Mr. Brian M. Mark Mr. Raul P. Masvidal M/M Harry L. Nathenson M/M M.A. Orden Mr. Gerald Pulver Nathalie P. Swetland M/M Raul Valdes -Fault M/M Theodore Baumritter M/M Emil Gould Mr. Martin Margulies M/M Harry Shubin Mr. .Julien Balogh M/M Marshall S. Harris Dr. Walter Garst M/M Edward L. Hoyt M/M Edward F. Swenson, Jr. Anthony Abraham Edmund Abramson Anonymous (Ted Gould) Charles Babcock Les Barnes M/M Alvah H. Chapman Phillip George, M.D. Michael Goldberg Nat Gumenick Cal Kovens Ruth Lyman Peter Moser M.A. Moss Steve Muss Jim McLamore Peat, Marwick;, Mitchell (Individual Prt Mel Schuster Sheik Wadgi Tahlawi John Thatcher Alberto Vadia M/M David Weaver I 1 A T ij MR noe Pi>timartnonie Toms Money Goal The -,Crescendo Campaign, aimed at putting the Florida Philharmonic on solid financial footing, exceeded its goal Fri- day. Pledges reached $538,620. $38,620 more than needed to , pay .off the orchestra's unse- cured debts. "ihe campaign ' began in April, shortly before the Philharmonic was forced to cancel the last two concerts of its season. Marshall Harris, a campaign leader, said a $50.000 pledge from Miami Beach indus- trialist Victor Posner and his Sharon Steel Foundation "put us over the top." Other big contrib- utors included Southeast First National Bank ($40,000). Ryder Systems (S30,000) and the Dunsbaugh-Dalton Fuu,,dat:ou ($30,000). Donors have pledged to continue giving over the next four years. Harris said the musi- cians' contracts must still be re - ..negotiated and an additional +. $321,000 in guaranteed debts y,... must be paid. ;Y Tniside .II:•: DONATIONS continue to boost the I Want to Help job - training fund. Page 28. 1 •i1 .. II■■� ci . ell O C� V r � C O �� 1z S•• to •.r ij �..111111�1'111U11�: . NewLeaders •' t'--Kw.1Vw fir e Face music: - it By BETH DUI LOP 1111►aw sea" writer For the last five years or so, the Florida Philharmon- Ie has merely muddled through, weathering crises and averting near- bankruptcies. Its debts mounted. Its audi. ences dwindled. Its credibility diminished. Early last month, the orchestra even canceled the final concerts of the season because there wasn't any money to pay the i players. • �' �tr,:' ' Now a lawyer and a newspaper executive are f spearheading a drive to save this musical organiza- tion and also to transform .tio�•"":*. It from an adegt.ate orches- tra to a good (and maybe t tti' -great) one serving all of South Florida. It's quite a task. Even the most enthusi- •' U.' astic of orchestra support- 4 . 0 ers will admit that the i6Philharmonic is so en- ` meshed in problems that it's going to take plenty of hard work and Inspired leadership to solve them. In Harris f the past few years, the gap between what this orchestra could have been and what It was widened to. tht point that some observers sug- gested simply shutting It down and starting over. f . 1 THE SOLUTION to ' the problems Isn't simple. AI- } though there is now great resolve to turn this into an '.: orchestra of excellence. there isn't a clear blueprint, de- tailing every move to accomplish that. t 4 As a beginning, there is the fundraising, which bas netted more in two months than any other single cam- paign — $2.3 milliod committed in five bites over four' : ' years. Under this fundraising effort — called the Cre- scendo Campaign. attorney Marshall Harris and Miami Herald President -Alvah Chapman have gotten 'annual pledges of.i538.'620 — an amount above the original $500,000 goal. -The money comes from 60 big ; contributors —, corporations and individuals — and +t more than 300 small donors, who have given less than , $500 each. Some people attribute this campaign's com- parative success to Its leadership, especially to Harris, a ; ! former United Wiy'president whose abilities as a fund- raiser and spokesman are eminently respected here. THIS CAMPAIGNdiffers from past campaigns — 1 most of which lba,e simply plugged those proverbial holes in dikes, giving the orchestra enough money to finish a season. Under the Crescendo Campaign, individ- uals and corporations have been asked to give both now and later to, provide a continuing financial base for the orchestra.,A pledge of $3.000 to the campaign actually : means a pledge of $25.000 — $5.000 now; $5.000 by i IF February •1981, and -three. more gifts of $5,000,— in 1981. 1982 and 1983.--ti,«•Y►• - "We're not siMpll'interested in saving this orches. tra. said Hgrris. -but in saving it and making it better. From the start, it seemed silly to solve the debt problem without undergirding the orchestra permanently." "Financial stability is the building block for the fu. ture," says Robert Paul, an attorney and former Phil- harmonic president. "We've made unprecedented strides in the last few months. We've never had a com- mitment like this before. But this commitment does nothing but ensure a solid base. It really doesn't answer the question: Do we have enough money to build a su- perb regional orchestra?" INDEED, THE crescendo campaign commitments are just a beginning. Money alone doesn't make music. It doesn't bring in audiences or improve the orchestra's quality. Some of the problems the Philharmonic faces fall In ,the vicious -circle category: In order to build an impres- sive orchestra, good musicians are needed. Good muai- •ci.ini nee4 to he well paid. if they at., to play with as orchestra. In order to pay musicians properly, the or- chestra needs to sell tickets to its performances. In oraer :o sell tickets, an orchestra has to play well. Start with the budget. Last season, the orchesc'a had a bua;et of Sl million, the kind of budget it is plan- ning on next year. That is only )ne-half to one-third of the budgets of orchestras in comparable cities such as Atlanta. Houston or St. Louis. The results of the Cre- scendo Campaign will help, but Ott $2.3 million is only a portion of what's needed to pay off the Philharmonic's e ' • 'lion debt ar.1 rr. , :,f �: 1 ,• !1 .. 80-558 6L\ philharmonic � F-tind Drive Crests Bait Job Isn't Over FROM PAGE I L - and Chapman are structuring a new board of directors. with Chapman as ,00fMan. Harris will either — for the coming season — stay on as campaign chairman or become board president. CHAPMAN AND Harris have lured a board of directors made up of new members and former Phil- harmonic supporters — a group in-, tended to be representative of the community at large. which Includes blacks and Latins but is almost all male. L "It';a real mix;' says Harris. "If. you had to characterize It. you would say they are 'doers.' You have to have doers. And every one of these ]new board members] Is a. subttlolal worker in or donor to the campaign." The current plan calls for Harris definitely to become board presi- dent in 1981. with Chapman re- maining chairman. In 1982, Harris ;Mould step up to the chairmanship and Frank Skinner. president of Southern Bell. would become presi- dent. The following year. accoun-' tant Earl Powell would become board president. These are, for all dntents and purposes. new faces for :orchestra leadership. known and successful businessmen. Harris says 'a commitment is being exacted -frond;both corporate donors and 'board members that they help with •additional fundraising. even hosting :social functions as a means of rais- ing more money. 6THIS BOARD will also oversee e management of the orchestra. Harris says he has already asked ;the Miami Beach Commission to consider subsidizing the eight con- ;certs the orchestra plays at the The. eater of the Performing Arts — which lose $35,000450,000 annual- ly. ThWtPhilharmonlc will bave ' a .guest 'conductor next season — Ra1t?!Dliedel, the well -regarded ;conductor of the Seattle Symphony yOrchebira. Miedei replaces Brian Priiit an. who was lured here •frftene ver amid great hopes ;threw ars ago and whose contract •w la'renewed. •--Pr"Iman was the third conduce �tor't#1hve years — a point orches- tra critics make when discussing -thnorganization's past lack of sta- bllity'or consistency. i'lie�tiring of Miedel as a guest conductor was a move to buy time while the orchestra bui!ds commu. nity support. His tiring on a tempo- rary basis gives the board a year to find a permanent replacement for Priestman. But there is hope that bliedel — a crowd pleaser in Seattle — will also move toward building an audi- ence. Filling the concert halls is a criti. cal step toward building a redionai urcrmara. I JULIAN KREEGER, an attorney and long one of the the orchestra's strongest supporters and critics, thinks it will take some marketing to rebuild the audiences, on the steady decline in the last five years. Going to some concerts. he says. has been like "going to a funeral." It should be just the opposite, some- thing that everybody wants to do. "I don't think the orchestra can sit back and say 'we're a cultural group so support us.'" says Kteeg- er. "The orchestra must get to a point where being involved be- comes the 'in' thing to do." Last year, 36,000 people bought tickets for 39 Philharmonic con- certs. That's only 40 per cent of the available seats. Building an audience will require not just marketing. but a solid edu- cational program — more concerts In the schools, for example. Philharmonic General Manager Azim Mayadas has procured a $60,- 000 grant from the National En- dowment for the Arts to finance concerts for children and senior cit- izens this year, his second with the Philharmonic. Last year the orches- tra played three concerts for senior citizens and 16 for school children. But other orchestras in other cities carry that further — visiting schools, bringing school children to rehearsals and filling concert halls by selling off extra tickets to stu- dents and senior citizens for $1. THERE ARE OTHER obvious problems to building a regional or- chestra. One is the smaller orchestras In the area — including ones in Miami Beach and Fort Lauderdale. "There has been," says Harris, "a history of acrimony and turf problems." The Philharmonic's primary com- petition are the Greater Miami Opera orchestra and the Fort Lau- derdale Symphony. both conducted by Emerson Buckley. who, in his years in South Florida, has built both an audience and a base of mu- sicians. At one time, local musicians commonly played in all three or- chestras. Then scheduling problems arose. Musicians had to chose which organizations to play for, and. as a result. many observers say, all organizations suffered. The resolution to these turf prob- lems starts with scheduling. Harris says that in the upcoming season, no concerts overlap. That gives the Philharmonic's musicians a chance to play both for the opera and the Fort;;- Lauderdale orchestra -- er�nu engagements to make it - %Tect ,chile for better musicians wOo, cyn command a higher price to Notk'*here. Playing only for the Philharmonic, musicians get paid for only 1U1 "services" — rehears- als and performances. Playing in the opera and Fort Lauderdale or chi-%;r,ls as Weil can increase the ,fury�tt'to 150 or more. •11:111,tt1S TIIINKS that the imme. an; e-heed is to start building a core of musicians th.tt will become the basta.Pt a "re;wnal" or_hr,tra that Rainer lliedel *..new guest conductor could ultimately serve Dade. Brow- ard and Palm Beach counties. "this should be a group of the best musi- Clans available." says Harris. There are some obstacles to this. Two years ago. in a well-inten- doned effort to give the orchestra some stability. Priestman granted many of the the Philharmonic's 34- core players tenure. Now, there's some worry that Priestman's action may cause problems later this year With the musicians' union as the new management attempts to build 4 higher -quality orchestra. But Paul points out that the or- chestra Is built with annual Audi. tions, and that artistic standards can give the management a way out of contracts. And Harris says the current pact with the union is one the management can work with in rescuing the orchestra. "We need to build this orchestra from the best players in this com- munity and elsewhere. The goal should not be to resurrect this Phil• harmonic but to build a new orches• tra." says Kreeger. 6 0 - ) 5 R