Orchestra Spotlight:
Portland (Maine) Symphony Orchestra

Portland, Maine (Click to enlarge.)

Portland is the largest city in Maine, and the Portland Symphony is the largest cultural institution in Maine. With a metropolitan population of about 230,000, the greater Portland area is home to almost one-quarter of Maine's total population. However, the orchestra draws its audience from well beyond the Portland area, including south-central Maine and New Hampshire. The Portland Symphony Orchestra has been through some difficult times in recent years, as have many orchestras and other arts institutions, but they have weathered the recession with some very interesting and creative actions, and are now on firm financial footing. The musicians joined Boston's AFM local 9-535, and the entire organization became involved in a significant and innovative strategic planning process.

Brief History

The PSO began its present-day life in 1923 as the Strand Amateur Symphony Orchestra, and played its first concert on Feb. 25, 1924. The orchestra benefited from the backing of a Portland broker, who dropped out of the picture in 1927, when the orchestra became the Portland Municipal Orchestra and found support from the city's music commission. The orchestra was officially incorporated as the Portland Maine Symphony in 1932. Its first paid conductor, who served from 1938 - 1951, was Bostonian Dr. Russell Ames Cook. In 1952, Richard Burgin, Concertmaster and Associate Conductor of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, became conductor and greatly improved the string section. Rouben Gregorian, Arthur Bennett Lipkin, Paul Vermel served as conductors from 1958 to 1975.

In 1969, the orchestra changed its name from the Portland Maine Symphony to the Portland Symphony Orchestra. Bruce Hangen served as Music Director from 1976-1987. Under his leadership, the PSO developed a national reputation for its artistic quality. In 1980, “Magic of Christmas,” conceived by then-General Manager Russell Burleigh, debuted with guest narrator Margaret Hamilton (the Wicked Witch of the West from The Wizard of Oz – a Maine resident). "Magic of Christmas" continues today to be a major source of income for the PSO, with 11 performances in 2011.

In 1986, Toshiyuki Shimada was named Music Director and he served in that position for over 20 years. During his long tenure, the PSO became committed to youth and family programming, while continually improving the quality of its subscription concert series.

The Portland Symphony Performing in Merrill Auditorium (Click to enlarge.)

In 2006, Ari Solotoff was named Executive Director and Robert Moody was named Music Director, as Toshi Shimada and Executive Director Jane Hunter stepped down after 20 + years of service. Ari Solotoff left in 2010 to join the staff of the Philadelphia Orchestra, and Lisa Dixon was named Executive Director in the summer of 2011.

The PSO performs in Merrill Auditorium, a 1,900 seat performing arts facility located in the Arts District of downtown Portland. The hall also hosts the Kotzschmar Memorial Organ, a celebrated instrument built by the Austin Organ Company in 1912. It was enlarged in 1927, again in the 1990s, and most recently in 2003. The Kotzschmar organ now boasts 102 ranks and 6,862 pipes of varying sizes. Merrill Auditorium underwent a major renovation in 1997. The musicians tell me they are very pleased with the results of the renovation, and love performing in this hall.

Recent Events

The Portland Symphony was faced with significant financial concerns starting in 2003-2004, which culminated in a crisis in 2008. The symphony had begun spending incoming revenue from the following year's subscription income to pay the current year's bills, not an uncommon practice in the orchestra world, until the situation become dire. Gordon Gayer, then board president, put the orchestra on a very lean financial diet; they cut concerts, services, and salaries, and decided to embark on a major strategic planning process to chart the way out of their problems.

The Portland Symphony Orchestra Musicians (Click to enlarge.)

Simultaneously, some long-time members of the PSO, which had been a non-union orchestra for all its life, decided it was time to seriously start organizing to see if the orchestra could join the AFM and benefit from all that the union has to offer. The musicians voted to join the AFM in the spring of 2008, and they joined ROPA [Regional Orchestra Players' Association] in 2010. They then proceeded to host the next national ROPA conference in 2011, as a new member.

I was pleased to join many of the Portland Symphony musicians, and colleagues from throughout the country, at the ROPA conference the PSO musicians hosted last August, 2011. I did many preliminary interviews for this spotlight while I was in Portland.

Ann Drinan, March, 2012