Officials with the RPO say they are looking at some changes to help keep the orchestra financially viable.
At the annual meeting Wednesday night, it was announced that the orchestra finished the most recent season with a $544,000 deficit. That was better than the $746,000 deficit from the year before, but Board Chair Dawn Lipson says this is not a sustainable model.
"The RPO has had deficits on and off over the last 10 years, and quite frankly if you took out these specials; last-ditch efforts to raise money, the two years that we did show a little surplus we still would have had a tremendous debt."
Lipson says a task force has been looking at the issue over the last several months, and one of the changes they are looking at would restructure the upcoming season in a way that would allow the RPO to explore some innovative ways of serving the community.
Among the things the orchestra is looking at is making changes with its community concerts, and focusing more on undeserved parts of the local population. For instance, they are looking at doing a concert at Monroe Community Hospital.
The RPO is still looking for a new music director, after Arild Remmereit was fired over a year ago. Lipson tells WXXI News that they’ve already had inquiries from about 100 people, but the board will not rush into anything. She says they plan to also gather feedback from musicians and people in the community as they narrow down the search.
