< Back to front page Text size – +

Boston Symphony Orchestra: We Generate $166.7 Million

Print | Comments () Posted by Geoff Edgers June 6, 2008 10:36 AM

E-mail

The Boston Symphony Orchestra released today a study it commissioned to show how much money it generates for the state. The study, which cost $30,000 and was done by Mount Auburn Associates, is meant to position the BSO as it launches a sizeable fundraising campaign.

"We've been talking about our obvious impact for years," managing director Mark Volpe told me. "We wanted to really study this and have an objective third party examine it in a more scientific way. The other thing is we are in the very quiet part of a fundraising initiative. We wanted to show the depth of our contribution to the Commonwealth beyond the artistic content."

There are a lot of numbers in this 52-page study. I'm only going to reference a few here:
- BSO Inc. (which includes the BSO, Boston Pops, and Tanglewood) generates $28 million a year from the spending of visitors, another $138 million through its business activities (including $33 million in wages and $43 million in purchases).
- In Suffolk County (that's Boston), the BSO's annual economic impactis pegged at $136.3 million. It's $60.6 million in Berkshire County.
- In 2006, "the BSO had non-payroll expenditures of nearly $43 million. Of this figure, more than 56 percent went to Massachusetts vendors, including $10.6 million to Boston businesses and another $4.1 million to Berkshires-based companies. This money impacts industries ranging from catering to construction, and insurance to graphic design."
- The BSO pays $33.2 million a year in salaries and wages to 284 full-time and 902 part-time or seasonal employees.
- "Tanglewood-affiliated educational programs house students in space leased from Berkshire County educational institutions, ultimately benefiting these schools' budgets. Miss Hall's School in Pittsfield receives $400,000 annually in lease payments for housing approximately 150 Tanglewood Music Center fellows each summer, and Great Barrington-based Bard College at Simon's Rock receives more than $200,000 to house the children and staff participating in the Days in the Arts camp."

BSO press release on the study.
The Berkshire Eagle has a story here.