The League of American Orchestras has published an overview of the activities of its members over a nine-year period from 2006 to 2014. The key elements of the report show that in 2014, there were 1,224 U.S. orchestras, distributed widely across all 50 states. In the same year, the orchestra field contributed $1.8 billion to the U.S. economy in direct payments for goods and services. While larger-budget orchestras had budgets exceeding $20 million, two out of every three from the 1,224 orchestras operated with annual expenses budgets of under $300,000.
The 1,224 orchestras produced 28,000 performances, activities, and other events in 2014, attracting a total audience of nearly 25 million. Yet, the audiences for classical series concerts declined by 5.5%, corresponding roughly to a 3% decline in the number of classical series performances offered.
In 2014, 98 major orchestras delivered almost 19,000 Education and Community Engagement performances, musical activities, and other events, deepening the experience of orchestral music for communities who would typically not otherwise engage with the symphony. Eighty-five percent of these events took place outside of the concert hall, including the 60% of the total that took place in schools. 2.1 million people participated in those 19,000 events.
Across League member orchestras, three quarters of all earned income in 2014 wasgenerated from performance and performance-related activities (OSR).
The full report is available here.
