The Elgin Symphony Orchestra launches its 76th season this weekend with a solid financial base and a growing audience — far from the near-bankruptcy they faced just four years earlier.
CEO Marc Thayer said the ESO ended its fiscal year in June with a $100,000 surplus, despite operating expenses going up more than 4% in the last two years. For the first time in a decade, they ended the year in the black, he said.
Ticket sales are up 80% since 2021, ticket sale revenue up 27% since 2023, and ticket sales for this year already higher than last year, according to Thayer.
“Sunday afternoon’s concert is sold out, and there are a few remaining seats for Saturday night,” Thayer said Wednesday of their shows at The Hemmens Cultural Center in Elgin.
Thayer became CEO in 2021, taking the helm when the symphony was dire financial shape and knocked for a loop by the pandemic. No one was certain if pre-COVID-19 audiences would return when things started returning to normal.
“It was apparent in my conversations with our board and supporters that there wasn’t a lot of confidence the ESO would make it to its 75th anniversary,” Thayer said.
A number of factors played a role in improving the symphony’s outlook as the organization rebuilt. They reduced the number of concerts they presented, cut expenses, reduced staff, employed new marketing techiques, and streamlined fundraising to target small groups of donors, officials said.
“The four-year contract agreement (reached with the musicians) demonstrated to our funders that both the administration and the musicians were serious about the long-term success of the orchestra,” Thayer said. “This, in addition to the transparency we’ve had with our donors about our funding needs and where we want to be, led to corporations and individuals having confidence in us and wanting to be part of our future.”
Donations from individuals have been on the rise, as have grants awarded by family organizations, foundations, and the city and state, he said. Only a quarter of the ESO’s revenue comes from ticket sales, making fundraising essential to operations.
They’re playing a bigger role in the community as well, Thayer said. That includes free educational programs and public concerts, more performances outside of Elgin, and programs that bring music to schools, hospitals, hospices and senior centers — all of which increases public awareness and emphasizes the ESO’s importance to the city, he said.
They’ve also made a concerted effort to feature programming that embraces and reflects Elgin’s large Hispanic population, such as the annual Dia de los Muertos concert, which this year will be held Thursday, Oct. 30, at The Hemmens.
Making performances accessible to everyone is important, he said. Tickets start at $20, with discounts offered for students and groups and a policy that allows patrons to bring a child 17 or younger with them for free when they pay for an adult ticket.
“People can also see their first concert with us for free,” Thayer said.
And don’t underestimate the $14.4 million in improvements the city of Elgin made to The Hemmens. From a new entrance, reception area and second-floor outdoor balcony to new first-floor restrooms (something they never had), an expanded elevator and a new external box office, the renovations have greatly improved the concert-going experience, Thayer said.
Expanded food and beverage service, additional room for meet-and-greets with musicians, and an easier ability to offer additional features, such as art exhibits, are a boon to both patrons and the ESO, he said.
The symphony pays the city of Elgin more than $60,000 a year to rent The Hemmens for concerts and rehearsals, Thayer said. They’re current on their payments, in part because the city agreed to forgive a $161,800 loan the symphony was struggling to pay back in 2021.
“We’ve been Elgin’s orchestra for 75 years, and I’m proud to say that because of the support of our entire ESO community, we’re looking forward to 75 more.”
Mike Danahey is a freelance reporter for The Courier-News.