Victoria Symphony is an asset, not a burden

Re: “Big rent hikes at Royal Theatre leave arts groups scrambling,” Dec. 7.

The article included the announcement by the Victoria Symphony Society that it would move much of its programming to the University of Victoria.

This action is in response to the Royal and McPherson Theatres Society declaring punishing rental increases and severe access restrictions for the Victoria Symphony, Pacific Opera Victoria and Dance Victoria, three leading local arts organizations with a long history of presenting performances in their home base at the Royal Theatre. These increases and restrictions bring into question the value placed on our local arts organizations, assets to the region, challenging their future capacity to contribute to the vibrant cultural life in Victoria and beyond. All are at great risk from these extraordinary actions.

The theatres society has plans to use this freed-up time to schedule performances for touring commercial productions, whose economic impact on the region will be insignificant compared to local not-forprofit performing arts organizations; such productions contribute little to promoting the cultural life of the region.

In light of the RMTS’s recent notification and in consideration of the need to plan symphony seasons years in advance, the board of the Victoria Symphony realized that it had to make a difficult decision. Staying at the Royal Theatre would result in unsustainable rental increases in excess of 100 per cent, and new policies on limited access make it impossible to deliver the symphony’s series of concerts. VSS owes its audiences and musicians the best terms it can find.

Part of the rationale presented by the theatres society suggests financial hardship. However, the RMTS, as a not-forprofit organization, has posted surpluses in the six-figure range in each of the past two years — luxurious by not-for-profit standards.

The Victoria Symphony performs to 125,000 people annually with more than 60 different concerts a year, more than half of those at the Royal Theatre. It presents an array of programming that targets every age demographic, ranging from kids’ concerts to Pops and Masterworks. It attracts 1,700 subscribers, issues 45,000 tickets each season and accounts for much of the Royal Theatre’s audiences and revenues in a year.

The symphony generates $5.2 million annually, and spends 94 per cent of that budget in the capital region; it provided more than $3.6 million in contracts in support of musicians and artists last year and engaged more than 270 artists, 93 per cent of whom are Canadian; it expended $300,000 in rental and crew costs at the RMTS; its education and outreach program touches the lives of more than 18,000 school children across several school districts; and it presents its annual Symphony Splash, an outdoor event attracting more than 40,000 people in the largest outdoor music event of its kind in North America.

For more than 78 years, Victoria audiences have attended, applauded and supported performances of the Victoria Symphony. We work collaboratively with other arts organizations, including Pacific Opera Victoria, Dance Victoria and Ballet Victoria, and form a vital part of the arts ecology in the region.

We are disappointed to be ousted from our home.

We are advocating for continued dialogue conducted with greater transparency, with the goal of collaboratively developing solutions to challenges. Serving the needs of our community is paramount. The Victoria Symphony encourages our municipal councils, the Capital Regional District and the Royal Theatre to address this important issue and ensure the sustainability of the Royal Theatre as the home for our leading performing arts organizations now and for the future.