Page 5 - GTMF Strategic Direction - 2023-2027.indd

Photo: Chris Lee

• Festival Orchestra musicians
make much less than their peers.
The musician stipend has not
changed since 2008. Almost 60% Photos: Chris Lee & Cody Downard
of musicians report losing money
on their summer engagement.
• Escalating housing costs pose the
greatest risk to GTMF’s future.
The average cost to rent a room
for a Festival musician has more
than doubled since 2009.
• In 2022, the cost of housing
Festival personnel was nearly
25% of operational expenses.
These costs are unsustainable
and represent an existential
threat to GTMF.

• Ticket sales and the annual endowment draw together cover • GTMF must repair and improve Walk Festival Hall within
only about one-fourth of annual expenses. Our regular the next three years. Walk Festival Hall’s acoustics are
fundraising covers the remaining three-quarters. GTMF celebrated, but many of its amenities and systems are
depends on gifts and grants to fund the music and its impact. out of date or approaching the end of their service lives.
• Our devoted patron base is aging. This is an issue To provide a musician and patron experience in line
confronting the entire orchestral field. To sustain its with the excellence of our programming, we must invest
growth, GTMF must improve the accessibility of the in improvements.
concert experience for older patrons while also reaching
out to new audiences across our community.

GTMF Strategic Direction, 2023-2027 | Page 5