In a second powerful alarm signal in 48 hours, the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony Orchestra (KWS) released a press release late Tuesday afternoon reporting a “potential cessation of activities” and announcing that the The amount to be raised to relaunch the orchestra is 2 million dollars. The duty was able to speak with Andrei Feher, a musical director in shock from the events of the last few days, which he allows us to decode a little better.
“Since Sunday, nothing has really changed or it’s barely moving, and if it doesn’t move, it’s pretty clear that it’s the end of the orchestra, at least in this form,” the director tells us musical of the Orchestra since 2018.
“I’m going to be the last one to lose hope, because I still have a hard time believing that something like that could go away so easily. » And yet, we apparently are there. In Tuesday’s press release, we no longer speak of a “cancelled season” like Sunday, but of a bankruptcy filing among the “possible solutions explored”.
Endemic deficit
“It’s not a matter of weeks, it’s a matter of days,” says Heather Galt, who served as board president for five years.
The present situation is the result of the conjunction of several phenomena. Even before the pandemic, the KWS was trailing an accumulated deficit. “We were managing to fill it little by little when the pandemic arrived,” explains Heather Galt. During the crisis, the KWS insisted on continuing to pay its musicians and administrative team. From the outside, we may be surprised that this leniency was not the subject, as elsewhere, of a negotiated and agreed reduction in salaries of 10% or 15%, as has been seen elsewhere. “Given the level of salaries in question, it would have been indecent to ask that,” M tells usme Galt. As a result, unlike other institutions, the KWS did not take advantage of the pandemic to improve its record.
Furthermore, the post-pandemic has hit hard. “We opened quite late compared to other cities. Did we do well? » asks Andrei Feher. But the precautions were of no use, because like everywhere else, the public was slow to return. “We had 8,000 subscribers before the pandemic. We have 2000 now. It’s a huge hit to the budget, because people buy by the piece on the same day and all the predictability is weakened,” summarizes the chef.
More than this. On a $5 million budget, the KWS has a healthy balance of three thirds (one third public subsidies, one third sponsorships and donations, one third ticket revenue), but these have plunged. “Last season we were 30% below our forecasts. »
Leverage effect
Revenues are decreasing at a time when production costs are increasing, a phenomenon described by chef Laurent Campellone in our article “L’opéra spins a bad cotton”, last July. “If we have someone who sees an opportunity to recover millions for their budget, it’s a disaster. He has the bread and the knife to close everything. The accusations are simple: “You made a loss; your rooms are not full; your art is dead, it’s too expensive and it no longer interests anyone.” Few people dare, but it’s great. The real danger today is that of facing political decision-makers who mistake these symptoms or problems for something structural and decide to throw the baby out with the bathwater,” the French leader said at the time. .
In practice, the KWS has also been fooled by its good fortune in previous equivalent situations. A serious crisis in 2006 was resolved by the collection of more than 2 million dollars. “We had a lot of meetings before the pandemic about the financial situation, but there were always solutions, donations, people who helped us get through this. I think this time we said the same thing to each other,” explains Andrei Feher.
And “the same thing” was a request for $800,000 from Canadian Heritage at the beginning of 2023. Without receiving a frank and massive “yes”, the KWS understood that the sum would be allocated. He definitely understood last week, it seems, that despite a letter written to the Prime Minister by five or six MPs from the region, the money would not arrive. This is what made Andrei Feher say: “Could we wake up earlier?” Yes, but since we supposedly had government aid, we were on the line: “We will do everything to continue.” This money not arriving, it suddenly put the foot on the brake. » Because when it comes to salaries or the season, cutting things little would have served no purpose.
“At least this announcement is clearer than Sunday’s. This is the last warning signal we have left,” says the chef, who hopes that at a time when “social networks are catching fire quickly,” things can be resolved quickly. Province, municipalities, federal government, donors are involved. “I have a hard time believing that I’m talking about this right now and that I have to sell why what we’re doing is vital. It would be a very dark day for the province and for the cultural life of the country if everything stopped. Such an important orchestra, with such an important season with all its activities, all its series, all its different audiences: there is nothing else in the region and, with the congestion, Toronto is a two-hour drive away.” , he concludes.
If the KWS succeeds once again, as in 2006, it will also and above all see with what strategic and marketing vision. An institution that warned its customers that they would not be reimbursed, but would receive a tax receipt, will have a long way to go to regain their trust from now on.