Orch sells 15% more tickets, still loses money

The Indiannapolis Orchestra reports reported a 15 percent rise in ticket sales, its fourth consecutive increase and an all time high.

However…  the ISO ended the year with a $561,000 deficit, due largely to a 78 percent increase in medical claims expense and inclement weather during the Marsh Symphony on the Prairie season, two factors out of its control.

press release:

The ISO’s 2015-2016 Financial Summary, ending Aug. 31, 2016

• Total operating income from FY16 was $25.25 million, an increase of 6.2 percent over last year; however, the ISO ended the year with a $561,000 deficit, due largely to a 78 percent increase in medical claims expense and inclement weather during the Marsh Symphony on the Prairie season, two factors out of its control.
• Ticket sales reached $8.49 million, an all-time record for the ISO, and were 15 percent over FY15 sales.
• Overall attendance for the year totaled 275,923 people.
• The ISO sold the most student tickets in a fiscal year ever, at 9,392, up by 4 percent over FY15 and double the number of total student tickets sold in FY13.
• Season subscription ticket sales increased 1 percent over FY15.
• IPL Yuletide Celebration achieved record-setting sales, with 98.82 percent paid attendance.
• The ISO raised $9.3 million in annual fund contributions, surpassing the total raised in FY15.
• The ISO also received a one-time $10 million grant from Lilly Endowment, Inc., the bulk of which was earmarked to fund the musicians’ defined benefit pension plan.