Editorial: Hitting the right note

It looks as if the naming of Yannick Nézet-Séguin as the next leader of the Philadelphia Orchestra was really the easy part.

The more daunting challenge facing board chairman Richard B. Worley and president Allison B. Vulgamore is making sure the orchestra is thriving when the Canadian conductor arrives in 2012.

It would be hard to make that claim today, with the Fabulous Philadelphians playing to less-than-full Verizon Hall audiences. Neither ticket sales nor the orchestra's generous supporters are keeping pace with expenses.

The recession has played a role, to be sure. But resolving the sagging audience appeal, which in large measure is driving the orchestra's financial woes, isn't merely dependent on seeing that the national economy improves.

As pointed out by Inquirer music critic Peter Dobrin, the orchestra, like many major cities' symphonies, must cope with changing times, demographics, and even musical tastes. Its legacy of world-class excellence is both a cherished and critical asset, but it is also costly to maintain.

The best news, then, may be that the orchestra's leaders realize it has more than just a routine case of the recession blues.

Upon her arrival in January, Vulgamore immediately began sketching out a strategic planning process. Now fully under way with guidance from a 27-member stakeholders' committee, the plan will be worth the effort if it delivers on Vulgamore's pledge to reexamine every assumption about how the orchestra operates and reaches out to audiences.

The goal, clearly, should be to maintain the stature of the great orchestra while still embracing the changes required to burnish its audience appeal.

Even if orchestra board members dig even deeper and ante up all of the $15 million sought for a bridge fund - or its musicians agree to more contract concessions - the orchestra's future will remain clouded if more seats aren't filled. That will require marshaling more audience-friendly ideas, from adding a simple encore to perhaps expanding popular community concerts.

City officials, meanwhile, should be working closely with the orchestra's strategic planners, given that orchestra-goers have complained about parking costs among the logistics of attending concerts. Whatever City Hall can do to help sustain the orchestra as a topflight visitor attraction will pay civic dividends many times over.

As an ensemble effort, there's probably nothing more important to the city's cultural life than securing the future of the Philadelphia Orchestra.