Record audiences and contributions: 500,000 greater Sacramentans reached;
$13 million in gifts and sponsorships made
Sacramento, CA, July 25, 2024: Following a record-setting 2022-23 season, the Sacramento Philharmonic & Opera (SP&O) has done it again, completing its 2023-24 season with a chorus of unprecedented achievements. As it eagerly anticipates its 10th anniversary as a merged organization, the SP&O has now performed for nearly 500,000 greater Sacramentans through orchestra, opera, pops, elementary school, pop-up, and civic partnership concerts and events since 2015, including multiple sold-out performances at the SAFE Credit Union Performing Arts Center this season alone.
The key to SP&O’s artistic growth and fiscal stability has been a reliable and growing subscription base coupled with Sacramento’s philanthropic generosity. On the heels of the previous year’s substantial subscription revenue growth, subscription revenue grew again by 50% compared to a year ago, with the number of total subscribers crossing 1,500. This represents a full return to pre-pandemic levels.
Since 2015, over $13 million in gifts and sponsorships have been made in support of the SP&O and the Sacramento Philharmonic & Opera Foundation, steward of the SP&O’s Endowment. The 2023-24 season ended with a record number of donors to the Annual Fund, with $1.71 million contributed by 700 donors. Leading the way was a transformational gift from the Nancy and Hank Fisher Family Fund, which helps the SP&O continually grow its artistic quality as well as grow its relationship with Principal Conductor and Artistic Advisor Ari Pelto.
A key tenant of the organization’s mission, the SP&O has presented nine operas for a combined audience exceeding 18,000 since its comeback, featuring nationally celebrated artists and directors who have earned critical and audience acclaim. The organization will again feature two operas in the 2024-25 season, opening with The Marriage of Figaro in October 2024.
“It is a tremendous privilege to be able to serve Sacramento with exceptional music,” exclaims Giuliano Kornberg, the SP&O’s CEO. “Selling hundreds of thousands of tickets to orchestral, operatic, and pops performances in ten years was once viewed as a pipe dream. Now, it’s the new baseline for our ambitions and a foundation from which we will continue to serve our community and partner with audiences across the Region. We are looking forward to our next decade of artistic, programmatic, and fiscal excellence.”
In addition to those attending orchestral and opera presentations, SP&O has reached 30,000 3rd-5th grade students in Title 1 schools through music education offerings including full orchestra “Link Up” concerts in partnership with Carnegie Hall. As one of the largest and most frequent Sacramento-based tenants of SAFE PAC, in ten years the SP&O has held more than 300 concert events and rehearsals at the SAFE PAC, engaging more than 650 greater Sacramento classical musicians and bringing to Sacramento some 175 internationally celebrated guest artists and conductors. The SP&O continues to provide live music for all performances of The Nutcracker with the Sacramento Ballet, and will perform Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets Live in Concert in October 2024.
“While our home is the SAFE Credit Union Performing Arts Center, our commitment to the greater Sacramento Region extends into every corner of our region,” observes Sheree Meyer, SP&O Board President. “In recent years, we have offered 175 pop-up concerts, and our remarkable musicians have performed for some 300,000 individuals outside the SAFE PAC at events including Run to Feed the Hungry, a 4th of July performance at Sutter Health Park, and Andrea Bocelli at the Golden 1 Center. It’s an incredible story of service to our Region.” SP&O’s 2024-25 season is on sale, with subscription sales already outpacing last year’s strong results. Among the highlights of the new season are concerts featuring renowned pianist Awadagin Pratt, Grammy-award winning violinist Augustin Hadelich, and local Sacramento virtuoso pianist Parker Van Ostrand, as well as four engagements with Principal Conductor and Artistic Advisor Ari Pelto. Musical highlights include Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7, Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 4, Copland’s Suite from Billy the Kid, and Brahms’s Violin Concerto. Opera will be an integral part of the season, with performances of Mozart’s wildly popular and beloved The Marriage of Figaro and Mascagni’s gripping Cavalleria Rusticana. The season will end with Mahler’s Symphony No. 1 in D major, “Titan,” sponsored by Congresswoman Doris Matsui and Roger Sant, to commemorate the SP&O’s return in 2015.
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