League of American Orchestras Releases 'Orchestra Facts: 2006-2014'

The League of American Orchestras has released Orchestra Facts: 2006-2014, the organization's first comprehensive longitudinal study of American orchestra finances and operations.

Using an extensive variety of organizational and external data sources, the study depicts the enormous breadth and scope of the American orchestra field, along with the complexities and resiliencies inherent in the art form's business model. With its focus on the nine-year period from 2006 to 2014, including topline trends, five-year trends, and one-year snapshots, Orchestra Facts examines the effects of the recent recession, as well as broader trends around audience attendance, orchestra finances, and accessibility.

"Orchestra Facts: 2006-2014 reveals a remarkable breadth of activity and commitment of resources on the part of orchestras in service to their communities," said League of American Orchestras President and CEO Jesse Rosen. "Our first-ever longitudinal study provides an authoritative fact base for analyzing orchestras' finances and operations, as well as new metrics for understanding orchestras' education and community engagement activity."

The report finds that the scope and scale of the orchestra field in the United States is vast: in 2014, 1,224 orchestras contributed $1.8 billion to the U.S. economy and attracted a total audience of nearly 25 million. Two out of every three orchestras operated with annual expenses budgets of under $300,000.

Cost barriers traditionally associated with attending orchestra performances are coming down: the number of free concerts has increased, while the cost of purchasing paid-for tickets fell.

An 18% growth in the number of households subscribing shows that demand for subscriptions is still growing, even if spend per subscriber is down. Overall, audiences declined by 10.5% between 2010 and 2014, broadly in line with other performing arts sectors. However, audiences for classical series concerts declined by 5.5% (corresponding roughly to a 3% decline in the number of classical series performances offered).

The report also finds that orchestras' work continues outside the concert hall through a wide array of education and community engagement activities for diverse audiences.

Generally, the report confirms recession recovery for the field as a whole, but individual orchestras may have different experiences. The study also illustrates the complexity of the orchestra business modelas orchestras balance multiple forms of earned, contributed, and investment revenue.

Looking at Change in Unrestricted Net Assets (CUNA), defined as the difference between unrestricted income and total expenses, the proportion of orchestras reporting deficits dropped from 40% in 2010 to 18% in 2014.

Orchestra Facts: 2006-2014 was commissioned by the League of American Orchestras, with research conducted by Dr. Zannie Giraud Voss, director, Southern Methodist University National Center for Arts Research, and author of Theatre Communications Group's Theatre Facts report, and colleagues. The League's Dr. Karen Yair, vice president, Knowledge Center, was a co-author of the study.

This project was supported in part by an award from the Research: Art Works program at the National Endowment for the Arts: Grant #13-3800-7015.

Additional funding was provided by a generous grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.