NY Philharmonic quickly raises needed cash

The New York Philharmonic, long saddled with uncertain finances, announced Dec. 12 that its new leadership had secured $50 million to keep the leading U.S. orchestra solvent for at least several seasons.

Deborah Borda, who took over as president and chief executive officer of the Philharmonic earlier this year, said that private donors had committed the sum over the past several months.

“These gifts will have a powerful and immediate impact on the Philharmonic -- including balanced budgets over the next several seasons,” Borda and the orchestra’s incoming music director, Dutch conductor Jaap van Zweden, said in a joint statement.

Like many classical music institutions in the United States, where public funding for culture is less significant than in much of Europe, the New York Philharmonic has been beset for years by deficits that have cast a pall over operations.

Back in New York

Borda led the New York Philharmonic in the 1990s before heading west to the Los Angeles Philharmonic, where she won praise for securing financial health for the orchestra.

Since Borda returned to New York, the Philharmonic scrapped an ambitious $500 million project to reconstruct its home in the Lincoln Center arts complex, instead seeking less sweeping renovations. Entertainment mogul David Geffen had donated $100 million for the rebuilding of the hall, which has been renamed after him. After the Philharmonic scrapped the plan, he criticized wealthy New Yorkers for failing to raise enough money to move ahead.