2 Orange County Arts Groups Post Surpluses

Two Orange County arts organizations reported slight surpluses for the 2000-2001 fiscal year.

The Irvine-based Philharmonic Society of Orange County, the county’s leading presenter of touring orchestras and the presenter of the annual Eclectic Orange Festival, reported an operating surplus of $123,000.

Costa Mesa’s larger-budgeted Orange County Performing Arts Center, which presents its own programming and hosts presentations by the Philharmonic Society of Orange County, the Pacific Symphony, Opera Pacific and three other tenant companies, reported a surplus of $165,000. Both sets of figures were unaudited.

OCPAC officials said Thursday that annual spending at the center topped $30 million for the first time.

Overall attendance was 497,500--up a tick from last year’s 495,600. Ticket revenue for events produced by the center--as opposed to presentations by the tenant organizations--was up 11%, from $14.7million the previous year to $16.3 million.

Total fund-raising matched last year’s $7.6 million. The center’s earnings on its conservatively invested $22.8-million endowment dropped from $2 million last year to $475,000. Progress toward the center’s grail, a $200-million expansion that would double its venues from two to four, stands at $85.4 million. That amount is “right on target,” according to OCPAC President Jerry Mandel, to achieve the planned 2005 opening of the addition, which will include a 2,000-seat symphony hall and 500-seat theater.

On Monday, the Philharmonic Society of Orange County reported income of $4 million, of which $1.2 million, or 30%, came from ticket sales. The Irvine-based society’s total income fell slightly from the previous year’s $4.1 million.

The society sold 45,582 tickets to its 36 concerts during the year. Total average paid attendance was 76%, up from last year’s 62%.