© 2003, Rotary Club of Charleston

P.O. Box 21029
Charleston, SC 29413-1029

Club secretary:
Carroll Schweers
chasrot@comcast.net

Charleston Symphony poised for change
Ferencz behind "precedent setting" moves

FEB. 24, 2004 - Club member Sandy Ferencz is the first ever female Executive Director of the Charleston Symphony Orchestra ("CSO") . In that role, she has been behind numerous "precedent setting" changes, to use her words, that she hopes will give the CSO vitality and economic stability for many years to come.

Among other efforts, Ferencz is leading the CSO on a campaign to operate under a balanced budget, which it has not done in many years. She and her staff have gone through the budget line by line and made numerous cuts and adjustments. This includes a recent 18% salary cut for the CSO's core group of 45 full-time professional musicians. In order to achieve such drastic cuts without losing talent, the CSO has planned two benefit concerts to be held this Spring. All proceeds from these events will go directly to the musicians and will hopefully offset some or all of their salary cuts.

Ferencz insists on a balanced budget. "We won't spend more than we take in," she says. In addition to budget cuts, the CSO has undertaken a $1.5 million capital campaign. Ferencz says they will "absolutely" meet this goal because they "have to." She noted that substantial donations have already been made by people and organizations as far away as California because the CSO is so "vital" to the Charleston community.

The CSO began in 1918 and held its first concert in December 1936. It emerged as a professional music organization in the 1970s, when it had for the first time a small core of full-time conservatory-trained first chair players. It achieved "Metropolitan" status in the American Symphony Orchestra League, being the first in the state to get that designation. David Stahl became the conductor in 1984 and is in his twentieth season in that role.

The CSO's demanding schedule covers over 38 weeks of performances each year. The musicians play before 100,000 audience members annually. The average age group of CSO audience members is 30s to 50s, although this may vary greatly depending on the particular performance at issue. The CSO draws its audience from all over the region, and out of town visitors also frequently attend CSO events. Ferencz promises that exciting performances have been scheduled for the coming seasons, and encourages everyone to give the CSO a try. "We have something for everyone," exclaims Ferencz.

In other business…

Debbie Sisco gave the invocation and led us in the Pledge of Allegiance, and Jack Meetze welcomed our guests and visiting Rotarians. Philip Lawrence offered Health and Happiness, while Anita Zucker offered a Rotary Moment and congratulated Les Manigault on Paul Harris fellowship status. Carol Collins made an announcement about our district community service project. Ellen Dressler-Moryl introduced our guest speaker, Rotarian Sandy Ferencz.

-- Amy Jenkins