Gidwitz

John Gidwitz, who has guided the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra through two decades of growth, will step down as president at the end of the 2003-2004 season, he announced yesterday. Since taking his position in 1984, Gidwitz oversaw a tripling of the BSO's budget; recruitment of Russian conductor Yuri Temirkanov as music director; and creation of a second BSO concert hall in Montgomery County, slated to open in 2005. "It's time," he said yesterday in his office at Meyerhoff Symphony Hall.

John Gidwitz, who has guided the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra through two decades of growth, will step down as president at the end of the 2003-2004 season, he announced yesterday. Since taking his position in 1984, Gidwitz oversaw a tripling of the BSO's budget; recruitment of Russian conductor Yuri Temirkanov as music director; and creation of a second BSO concert hall in Montgomery County, slated to open in 2005. "It's time," he said yesterday in his office at Meyerhoff Symphony Hall.

After 20 years as concertmaster of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, and after working with three different music directors, Herbert Greenberg is resigning at the end of the current season. "This was not an overnight decision," the violinist said yesterday. "I have been thinking about it for five years. I feel that I have paid my dues. I am ready for a new direction." Although the rumor mill has cranked up stories that Greenberg was fired or paid to retire now, both he and BSO president John Gidwitz denied that any pressure was brought to bear.

The Baltimore Symphony, like many other orchestras around the country, finished up its 2001-2002 season in the red, but less of it than anticipated. Last spring, a deficit of about $1 million was projected; the final audit put the total at $661,000. It's the first deficit the BSO has had to carry since 1996, and it looks like it will get worse before it gets better. The current $25 million budget projects a deficit of $515,000, a figure almost certain to rise due to just-announced increases in health insurance premiums.

After 32 years of service, the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra Chorus will be disbanded at the end of the current season. BSO president John Gidwitz broke the news to the singers yesterday afternoon at a rehearsal for next week's program, which is to feature the 147-member chorus. "It was dropped like a bomb," said chorus manager Cheryl Kauffman of the decision. "People reacted very emotionally. Doctors and lawyers, housewives and schoolteachers were in tears. Everyone wanted to find a way to make this not happen."

The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra is joining a growing chorus of American orchestras sounding a sour financial note.The BSO expects to run a deficit of about $800,000 this year, according to executive director John Gidwitz. That would be the orchestra's first shortfall since 1986, when it embarked on an acclaimed $40-million endowment campaign that, with the help of a six-year, $10-million state grant, was designed to prevent it from going in the red.Much of the BSO's deficit, which represents about 5 percent of the BSO's annual $17 million operating budget, is the result of reductions in anticipated government support, Mr. Gidwitz said yesterday.

The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra completed its 1989-90 fiscal year with a net loss of $55,000, which was still $20,000 within its budget (the sixth straight year within budget), according to the financial summary for the fiscal year ending Aug. 31, 1990.John Gidwitz, executive director, said after this year, however, the BSO will face tougher fund-raising conditions when it no longer gets at least $1 million in state bridge grants it has received for the past five years and hopes for in a final grant this year.

When Yuri Temirkanov makes his official debut tonight as artistic director of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, he'll be performing in a 17-year-old concert hall that has just received nearly $7 million worth of renovations. If Temirkanov stays with the symphony beyond his initial 3 1/2-year contract, he likely will divide his time between the renovated hall and a new one, nearly as large, planned for construction at a cost of $88.9 million. The BSO is one of the few orchestras in the country with plans to occupy two major halls serving different markets -- the 2,450-seat Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall in Baltimore and the proposed 2,000-seat Concert Hall and Education Facility at the Strathmore Hall Arts Center in Montgomery County north of Bethesda.

The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, working to reduce a growing deficit, has laid off two department heads and replaced its key fund-raiser.John Gidwitz, executive director of the symphony, said yesterday that the staff reductions are being made to help cut the orchestra's increasing deficit, projected to exceed $2 million by the end of the 12-month period closing Aug. 31."This is one of many decisions we have to make on a ongoing basis," said Mr. Gidwitz. "We are constantly looking at budgets.

Friday's news that longtime Baltimore Symphony Orchestra concertmaster Herbert Greenberg is retiring at the end of this season has prompted a number of questions. Those with a penchant for gossip naturally want to know if Greenberg was forced out, if he and music director Yuri Temirkanov couldn't get along - even the slightest whiff of a potential controversy gets some people panting. Then there is the unavoidable curiosity about other potential departures from the orchestra. Is Temirkanov, having already coaxed a different sound out of the BSO, now going to put different bodies into it?

After 32 years of service, the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra Chorus will be disbanded at the end of the current season. BSO President John Gidwitz broke the news to the singers yesterday afternoon at a rehearsal for next week's program, which is to feature the 147-member chorus. "It was dropped like a bomb," said chorus manager Cheryl Kauffman of the decision. "People reacted very emotionally. Doctors and lawyers, housewives and schoolteachers were in tears. Everyone wanted to find a way to make this not happen."

Friday's news that longtime Baltimore Symphony Orchestra concertmaster Herbert Greenberg is retiring at the end of this season has prompted a number of questions. Those with a penchant for gossip naturally want to know if Greenberg was forced out, if he and music director Yuri Temirkanov couldn't get along - even the slightest whiff of a potential controversy gets some people panting. Then there is the unavoidable curiosity about other potential departures from the orchestra. Is Temirkanov, having already coaxed a different sound out of the BSO, now going to put different bodies into it?

After 20 years as concertmaster of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, and after working with three different music directors, Herbert Greenberg is resigning at the end of the current season. "This was not an overnight decision," the violinist said yesterday. "I have been thinking about it for five years. I feel that I have paid my dues. I am ready for a new direction." Although the rumor mill has cranked up stories that Greenberg was fired or paid to retire now, both he and BSO president John Gidwitz denied that any pressure was brought to bear.

When Yuri Temirkanov makes his official debut tonight as artistic director of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, he'll be performing in a 17-year-old concert hall that has just received nearly $7 million worth of renovations. If Temirkanov stays with the symphony beyond his initial 3 1/2-year contract, he likely will divide his time between the renovated hall and a new one, nearly as large, planned for construction at a cost of $88.9 million. The BSO is one of the few orchestras in the country with plans to occupy two major halls serving different markets -- the 2,450-seat Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall in Baltimore and the proposed 2,000-seat Concert Hall and Education Facility at the Strathmore Hall Arts Center in Montgomery County north of Bethesda.

For a baker's dozen years, David Zinman has been not only the face but also - for radio listeners - the voice and personality of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. With his departure as music director, the BSO faces an identity crisis.Actually, the 1998-1999 broadcast series of 13 "Casual Concerts," which begins airing nationally in October, uses last season's performance repertory and will feature the popular co-host team of Zinman and Lisa Simeone. So listeners outside Baltimore may not be aware that a new era is at hand.

The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, working to reduce a growing deficit, has laid off two department heads and replaced its key fund-raiser.John Gidwitz, executive director of the symphony, said yesterday that the staff reductions are being made to help cut the orchestra's increasing deficit, projected to exceed $2 million by the end of the 12-month period closing Aug. 31."This is one of many decisions we have to make on a ongoing basis," said Mr. Gidwitz. "We are constantly looking at budgets.

The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra is joining a growing chorus of American orchestras sounding a sour financial note.The BSO expects to run a deficit of about $800,000 this year, according to executive director John Gidwitz. That would be the orchestra's first shortfall since 1986, when it embarked on an acclaimed $40 million endowment campaign that, with the help of a six-year, $10 million state grant, was designed to prevent it from going in the red.Much of the BSO's deficit, which represents about 5 percent of the BSO's annual $17 million operating budget, is the result of reductions in anticipated government support, Mr. Gidwitz said yesterday.

Tokyo -- According to an old Japanese proverb, a nail that sticks up will always be beaten down."In Japan -- where most of us look and think alike -- to be different is not a good thing," says Masa Kajimoto. His life, however, suggests otherwise: Even though he was knocked down after failing his college entrance exams, he recovered and has become president of Kajimoto Concert Management Co., one of country's pre-eminent classical music promoters.Kajimoto's latest triumph is taking an unknown orchestra named the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and turning its trip to Japan into the most successful tour of Japan by a foreign orchestra in more than a year.