PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Symphony has canceled its summer 2004 European tour, saying it stood to lose as much as $400,000 on the trip.
President and chief executive officer Thomas Todd has written a letter to symphony musicians, saying the executive committee of the board of directors had decided late last month to cancel the trip, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reported Thursday.
Because no corporate sponsorships were in place, the tour stood to lose up to $400,000 — but likely would have lost $150,000 to $250,000 even if sponsors had been found, Todd wrote.
"This will be a real problem, in my opinion, in the international community. Our reputation will be affected," said Andres Cardenas, the orchestra's concertmaster. "Already the word is out that we're having financial problems. I think it's a tragedy when economics compromise artistic achievement."
Last year, symphony officials said they expected to accumulate a deficit of up to $1.5 million this season, which ends this month.
The symphony also is trying to fill two key positions. Gideon Toeplitz, the symphony's managing director, will quit at season's end, and conductor Mariss Jansons announced last year that he plans to resign at the end of the 2003-04 season.
Like many orchestras around the country, the Pittsburgh orchestra is trying to weather its financial problems with a donation campaign. The orchestra is facing a deficit because of a dwindling endowment, officials said.
Mellon Financial Corp., a Pittsburgh-based investment banking firm, is sponsoring this year's summer tour, which includes August stops in Lucerne, Switzerland; Salzburg, Austria; Stuttgart, Germany; and London.
Mellon spokesman Ron Gruendl said he couldn't say whether the symphony had approached the bank about sponsoring next year's tour. But he did say that 2004 sponsorship decisions wouldn't usually be made until later this year or early next year.
"And with something of a magnitude like this, most corporations don't sponsor (a tour) annually," Gruendl said.
Todd's letter said efforts will be made to schedule future overseas tours and to keep the symphony "world class." "We recognize that a very important part of 'world class' is significant international touring," Todd wrote.