Boston Symphony Orchestra Inc.

Filing Period

Sep 1, 2009 to Aug 31, 2010

Signed

Jun 10, 2011

Return Version

2009v1.2

Gross Receipts

$146,275,550

Mission

Major Activities

Activity 2

Education. Education is integral to the BSO's mission and comprises two main components: 1.) training of young professional musicians at the Tanglewood Music Center, the BSO's world-renowned summer academy for advanced musical study; and 2.) K-12 in-school and summer education programs that address the need for integrated, high-quality arts education in the public schools, as required by the Massachusetts Education Reform Act of 1993. Over the past seven decades, the Tanglewood Music Center (TMC) has established itself as the preeminent professional music-training center of its kind, and its alumni have shaped and changed the musical landscape in all parts of the world. The TMC program is truly unique, having a fully-integrated relationship with a world-class symphony orchestra, continuously drawing on the musicians, ideas, and resources of the BSO, and enlisting the participation of its artists to create and contribute to the educational experience of young musicians in the most profound manner. The mission of the TMC is to serve as a bridge from the conservatory to the professional world, allowing young musicians of the highest promise to gain access to the guidance of the music world's most esteemed senior professionals. The relationships cultivated at the TMC offer direct entrée to upper levels of the profession. Upon completing their time at TMC, TMC "fellows" are deemed to have all of the requisite skill and training for highly successful careers as performing musicians. Since its inception the TMC has also functioned as a think tank in which faculty are encouraged to pursue directions that will open new avenues in the field. The principal areas of study and performance at the TMC are orchestral and chamber music, with a heavy emphasis on contemporary music, vocal repertoire including art song and staged opera (also involving instrumentalists), composition, and conducting. In the summer of 2010, approximately 150 accomplished fellows studied and performed for eight weeks under the direction of 60 resident and guest faculty members and members of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Participating fellows represented 31 states (including the District of Columbia) and 21 foreign countries. In one of the TMC's season highlights, the talented young musicians of the Tanglewood Music Center performed Maher's Symphony No. 3 under the direction of conductor Michael Tilson Thomas. The student instrumentalists were joined by mezzo-soprano Karen Cargill, the women of the Tanglewood Festival Chorus, and the American Boychoir. The performance was a popular and critical success. The New York Times praised the TMC musicians' "balanced sonorities and stunning climaxes," noting the performance for its "polish and power." Performance and study of new music, always central to the TMC methodology, were programmed throughout the summer, and the TMC fellows played a prominent role in Tanglewood's annual Festival of Contemporary Music, which celebrated the TMC's 70th anniversary and was co-directed by John Harbison, Gunther Schuller, and Oliver Knussen. The K-12 education programs of the BSO not only provide access to the arts for underserved students and families, they also address the need for integrated high-quality arts exposure and education in the public schools as required by the Massachusetts Education Reform Act of 1993. These initiatives currently serve more than 31,000 students and hundreds of teachers statewide, and are developed in conformity with the National Standards for Arts Education and the Massachusetts Arts Curriculum Framework. The BSO continues to adapt its existing programs and develop new ones that support education reform in Massachusetts. One of the BSO Education Department's primary goals is to ensure that the arts remain a central part of the curriculum in the public schools. This effort has become even more critical as programs in the arts have been decimated by deep cuts to the state's education budget. The BSO offered

Activity 3

Electronic Media: During FY '10, the BSO was featured in live local broadcasts of weekly Symphony Hall and Tanglewood Concerts on the 99.5 All Classical station (formerly WCRB, now a subsidiary of public radio station WGBH). The BSO's website (www.bso.org) continued to prove its value as one of the orchestra's most vital business assets, receiving more than 7 million visits in FY'10, 18 percent of which were international and 58 percent of which were unique or one-time visits. This generated more than 34 million page views. The BSO's website continues to be the largest and most-visited orchestral website in the country. The website is also essential to executing the orchestra's educational and outreach mission. For each of the BSO's winter season programs, the orchestra releases a concert-overview podcast that offers insight into how listeners may approach given compositions, as well as audio or video clips from the BSO's archives and live interviews, when applicable. Currently, the BSO's podcast series has 115,000 subscribers, of which 86,000 are active. Additionally, the BSO's Classical Companion (successor to the Online Conservatory) offers interactive exploration of select BSO programs through www.bso.org. More than 1 million people visited the Classical Companion during FY '10; more than 6 million people have visited the Classical Companion or its predecessor since FY '04.

Filer

EIN

04-2103550