Orchestre Symphonique de Montreal

About Orchestre Symphonique de Montreal:

Founded in 1934, Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal (OSM) is one of the major cultural organizations in Montreal. OSM seeks to present symphonic music and concert artists of international stature to the broadest possible audience and invests in the development of symphonic and classical music. The current music director is Kent Nagano.

The Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal holds regular season performances in the Montreal Symphony House at Place des Arts. It performed a total of 119 regular-season concerts, including 48 regular concerts, 6 holiday-season concerts and 14 young-audience concerts. The Orchestra saw two guest orchestras perform in Montreal, the Budapest Festival Orchestra and the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra. The box office sold 186,861 tickets for OSM productions including 48,559 sold in subscriptions.  The Orchestra also performed 37 concerts during the summer season, including 30 concerts during the OSM Couche-Tard Classical Spree and free concerts at the Olympic Park.

Through the Friends of OSM program, OSM provides youth quality educational programs at reduced prices. OSM conducts school activities at primary, secondary and college levels to provide young people the opportunity to discover classical music. It also hosts the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal Manulife competition, a performance competition for young artists from across Canada, with the winner receiving $10,000 and opportunities to perform with the OSM.

In F2016, the Orchestra had a 10-concert tour in the United States, the first time they have done so in 40 years. It played in cities such as New York, Chicago and San Diego and saw an total attendance of 17,392.

Financial Review:

Ci has consolidated the charity's financials with figures of the Fondation de l’Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal as found in its T3010A filing. Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal is considered a large-cap charity with donations of $7.3m in F2015. Its administrative costs are 5% of total revenues and fundraising costs are 28% of total donations. For every dollar donated, 67 cents goes to the cause, falling within Ci’s reasonable range. The charity and the foundation have funding reserves of $65.6m which can cover program costs for 2.6 years.

This report is an update that is being reviewed by l’Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal. Changes and edits may be forthcoming.

Updated July 27, 2017 by Josh Lam.