The Record (Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario)
October 6, 2006 Friday
Final Edition

Orchestra struggle saddens conductor

by LIANNE ELLIOTT, RECORD STAFF

Raffi Armenian is heartbroken to see the symphony he devoted so much
of his life to fall toward financial ruin.

The celebrated conductor was the heart of the Kitchener-Waterloo
Symphony from 1970 to 1993, transforming it from an amateur orchestra
to a critically acclaimed organization.

"I don’t want to see my 23 years just melting away," he said
yesterday. "It takes so long to build something and it’s so easy to
destroy it."

The symphony is on the brink of bankruptcy. The board of directors
announced Wednesday that the symphony must raise $2.5 million by Oct.
31 or be forced to shut down.

"My worry is that there is only three weeks to raise so much money,"
Armenian said. "That will be very difficult."

Reached at the University of Toronto, where he teaches, Armenian said
the symphony’s sudden financial crisis leaves him with many
questions.

He can’t understand why the orchestra allowed its financial problems
to get so bad that it only has three weeks to save itself.

The symphony’s general manager, Dan Donaldson, said the severity of
the problems only came to light after the end of the fiscal year, on
Aug. 31.

Analyzing numbers, the symphony realized it was in more trouble than
it thought. This year, pulling through will not be possible. The
symphony realized it would need between $1 million and $1.5 million
to stay afloat and pay its 66 musicians and staff for the rest of the
season.

It will need another million to survive the following year.

One of the main reasons for the symphony’s financial trouble is
attendance. Fewer people are buying tickets every year — about
56,000 tickets were sold in the 2002-03 season, compared to 42,000
this past season.

Armenian says it makes no sense that people in this community aren’t
buying tickets.

Symphony crowds are traditionally made up of well-educated people
with higher incomes and this community has no shortage of people who
fit this bill.

Armenian points out that Waterloo Region is an increasingly
intellectual area, boosted by institutions like the University of
Waterloo and the Perimeter Institute of Theoretical Physics.

"You have the best customers," Armenian said. "I don’t understand how
we aren’t bringing these people to the symphony. It’s
incomprehensible."

Armenian said the symphony has to offer programming that people want
to hear or they won’t come.

He said it wouldn’t be fair for him to speculate on what that
programming should be.

He’s been out of the community for 13 years and doesn’t know its
pulse anymore.

One thing is clear, Armenian says, the symphony absolutely needs a
permanent conductor.

The orchestra has been searching for one ever since the controversial
firing of Martin Fischer-Dieskau in 2004.

Fischer-Dieskau, reached at his home in Germany yesterday, did not
want to make any comments on the symphony’s current financial crisis.

Armenian said not having a conductor is harming the symphony.

"It has no leader. Do you know of anything that can work without a
leader?"

The conductor is the artistic director of the orchestra, who decides
what approach the orchestra should take, what music it should tackle
and what goals it should have.

"They have a vision and that’s what you need," said Armenian, who now
lives and teaches in both Montreal and Toronto.

When Armenian filled the role of conductor, the Kitchener-Waterloo
Symphony embarked on world tours, made critically acclaimed
recordings and drew celebrated guest musicians to the region. Tickets
sales flourished.

Armenian said it is upsetting to think that such a vibrant symphony
could fall apart.

"I feel immense sadness," he said. "It’s a sad moment for me to watch
this happening."