Even before opening the show, which also featured the Burroughs High School choir for a set of Christmas carols, Kerstein set a cautionary tone.
“We’re doing OK, and I’d say OK is good,” he said.
The lowering of the bar came on the heels of the Orchestras of Pasadena last month laying off its two top executives and cutting back on concert plans in the face of declining revenue.
In announcing the layoffs, the organization warned an emergency fundraising drive would have to raise at least $3.5 million to preserve the production of 14 planned concerts through next year.
And the Glendale Symphony Orchestra has yet to recover from years of being underfunded. The last time the symphony performed at the Alex Theatre on its own accord was 2006.
Since then, a new management team has come onboard in an effort to rejuvenate the struggling organization, but with the economy continuing to falter, the challenge to rebuild has only grown as established nonprofits compete fiercely for a dwindling pot of philanthropic money.
The Burbank Philharmonic Orchestra has yet to stumble as hard as its counterparts, but even Sunday’s concert represented a renewed effort to hedge against the hard economic times, organizers said.
The orchestra typically keeps to an annual schedule of four major concerts per season. Three of the four are free to the public, with the Pops Concert at the Starlight Bowl charging $10 to assist with production costs.
Like most orchestras, it is entirely dependent on donations — a growing liability with production costs rising to more than $20,000 for each concert, orchestra President James Brandon said.
