An upbeat tempo: New Symphony & Opera chief juggles arts groups, family life
As the new CEO of the Utah Symphony & Opera, Tourangeau realizes that to ensure a stable future, performing arts organizations need to secure the loyalty of their patrons and their musicians. That's high on her list of things to do as she quickly settles into her new job. Meeting with the Deseret News in her office in Abravanel Hall, Tourangeau spoke about what she hopes to accomplish here.
Foremost is developing a solid relationship with both patrons and musicians of the Utah Symphony. "We need to give people a reason for wanting to be a part of the organization," she said. Ideally, that means turning single-ticket holders into season subscribers and subscribers into donors. "In that way we can create a financially sustainable product."
That's something she calls "patron development" — getting people to subscribe and keeping their loyalty. "And somewhere down the line they'll become a donor and hopefully a lifelong donor," she said. "I like to compare an arts organization to a university. You can't expect tuition money to fund a university. In the same way, you can't expect ticket sales alone to pay for everything."
And Tourangeau wants the musicians to be actively involved, too. "The musicians want to be part of the organization. They want it to succeed. We have 85 full- time players, and the impact each one has on the community is immense. If you compare the Utah Symphony to an 85-member orchestra in Chicago or somewhere else, you'll see that the way we reach out to the community is greater than anywhere else." The musicians are a natural network and need to be utilized, Tourangeau said.
As important as patron loyalty is to the continued success of US&O, focusing on the musicians of the symphony is crucial to ensuring the viability of the organization. Tourangeau knows that, and she goes out of her way to emphasize it. "The more you get to know the players and get to know them personally and look at them more closely, the more excited you become about going to one of our concerts."
Changing the commonly held perception that the music director is the star of the symphony is vital, Tourangeau said. "We should be using our players as our stars, because they are our stars, and we should let their fans — the audience — get to know them. And now that we're in a transitional period," with the ongoing search for a new music director, "we need to showcase the players."
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