BYFIELD — The slumping economy has claimed an unlikely victim: Ludwig van Beethoven.
Symphony by the Sea has canceled its final performances of the 2008-2009 season, an all-Beethoven program planned for this weekend.
The regional orchestra performs at The Governor's Academy in Byfield five times a year as one of its two principal venues. The other is the First Universalist Church of Salem.
"We felt it was the prudent thing to do," said symphony board president Patty McDermott of Newburyport. "The board of Symphony by the Sea explored every possible option, but smaller audiences and the economy in general had a dramatic effect on overall fundraising this season, leaving us with fewer options."
McDermott said the board is unwilling to risk running up a budget deficit for the current season, which would mean beginning the 2009-2010 season next fall in the red.
That won't happen, McDermott said. Symphony by the Sea plans a full calendar of concerts for its next season.
McDermott said it costs $15,000 to $20,000 to stage each of the orchestra's five concert weekends. The 35-member ensemble also operates school and youth programs around the North Shore.
Attendance has been down by about 30 percent this year, McDermott said. Revenue has also been down 30 percent, she said.
Ticket sales account for only about one-third of the orchestra's income, she said, with the bulk of its funds coming from corporate gifts, private donations, advertising in the program book and fundraising events.
She said the drop-off in the other revenue sources is what forced the decision to cancel.
"If this were a normal year with the audience down 30 percent, we could make it," she said.
The flow of private donations was hit hard in the Ponzi scheme scandal operated by disgraced hedge fund manager Bernard Madoff, McDermott said, as several symphony donors lost money.
"It was the erupting volcano that was too much to take," she said.
Arts organizations have generally been feeling the pinch of the sluggish economy as people cut back on discretionary spending, McDermott said.
"Some of the best-endowed organizations are canceling concerts, reducing the size of their performances and deeply discounting ticket prices in an effort to avert the financial impact of reduced audiences and dramatically lower donations," she said. "Symphony by the Sea is not immune to these economic conditions."
She emphasized that the orchestra is not carrying a debt, that income has been covering expenses.
"We simply came up short one concert," she said.
Symphony by the Sea's approximately 300 season subscribers, most of whom are from the Newburyport area, have been notified in writing of the cancellation, McDermott said.
People who hold the $30 tickets to the Beethoven program may redeem them by using them as their admission pass to a fundraising gala that the symphony plans to hold this summer, or when purchasing a subscription for next season's performances. Advertisers will be provided with an extra set of tickets for next season's performances when renewing an annual advertising contract. McDermott said she is not planning to give straight refunds.
The program that was scheduled for this weekend will be presented next season, she said; although the concert dates have not yet been set. The concert, called "The Prometheus Theme: The Recycling Genius of Beethoven," consists of 12 contradances for orchestra, music selections from Beethoven's ballet "The Creatures of Prometheus, and his Symphony No. 3, the "Eroica."
"We want people to know that the orchestra is alive and well and will be back next season for a full program," McDermott said.
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