| One Yellow Rabbit theatre’s Denise Clarke was working on a new performance recently when she found herself in a room with the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra.
The orchestra, she says, blew her away, and she immediately decided that she wanted to do something to help the cash-strapped symphony. Though she didn’t think she could afford to buy season’s tickets on her own, she convinced the rest of the One Yellow Rabbit staff to split the cost and share the tickets.
Then Clarke got on the phone, and soon talked five other local theatre groups into doing the same. Now she hopes her idea will spread to all kinds of industries and organizations.
"I can’t bear the thought of losing (the CPO)," Clarke says. "They employ a lot of musicians, they are a huge source of cultural pride.... They really are wonderful.
"I do believe we should support one another."
The orchestra is in the middle of a desperate campaign to sell enough season tickets to stay afloat. Financial problems have dogged the orchestra for a number of years, but this year it is so short of money that it will cease operating next year unless it reaches 5,000 subscribers by October 31.
Donna Rapp, director of marketing and communications for the CPO, called Clarke’s idea "wonderful." She has also heard of several other initiatives by Calgrians who don’t want to see the CPO sink – some local businesses are offering discounts on their products to CPO subsribers, a University of Calgary student has inquired about staging a benefit concert on campus, and other musicians are also planning benefit concerts.
"We have so many good news stories, it is really encouraging," Rapp says.
Alberta Ballet chair Larry Clausen also made a plea to Calgarians to do what they can to back the orchestra, pointing out that it, along with Alberta Ballet, provides unique educational opportunities for Calgary students that aren’t available anywhere else.
But Rapp says there is still a long way to go before the CPO is clear of its financial problems. Since the campaign began on September 16, CPO has earned $87,000 in subscription revenue, which is about $8,000 a day. Previous to that, they were earning about $8,000 a week. At that pace, and including individual ticket sales, donations and all other sources of revenue, it will take two months to reach their goal of $1.9 million, which isn’t as quick as they would like.
"We need to maintain that or do a little better," Rapp says. "I hope it persists because we have to keep the momentum going.
For Clarke’s part, she ordered a ticket package that includes five performances throughout the year for $125, or $25 for each performance. She thinks other companies and organizations could easily find enough people who don’t want a full subscription to split such a package and support the orchestra.
"You only have to sort of like classical music to enjoy this," she says. "By spending a very little bit of time and money and effort, you can get your ass down there and say, ‘This is a cool thing.’
"The symphony is sounding great. When you hear a great orchestra play, it really does shift things around in your world."
Ticket information is available at 571-0849 or www.cpo-live.com. |
