Dear Friends of the BPO:Every year, the goal of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra is to get better and reach as many people as possible. The 2016-17 season was outstanding in this regard and we are very excited to review with you some of its stellar moments.This “Report to the Community” is designed to let you know the progress we have made toward three major strategic goals:

Grow our Audience• We again achieved record season ticket revenue and set a new record for single tickets sales.• Our educational programs reached over 50,000 students from the 8 counties of Western New York.• We performed for more than 212,000 people at 129 concerts.

Develop and Grow Artistically• Five new discs were recorded or released including the Richard Strauss Le Bourgeois

Gentilhomme which made it to the 2017 top ten listing in the Chicago Tribune. • We explored new repertoire such as Wagner’s Ring and the Stewart Copeland

Percussion Concerto that fueled excitement onstage and off.• Superb guests graced the stage and gave unforgettable performance from the likes

of Bach specialist Angela Hewitt, organist Cameron Carpenter and the legendary Itzhak Perlman.

Operate with Excellence and Fiscal Responsibility • We achieved another balanced budget, the 12th such since 2004. • Total endowment funds increased to $40 million as our Crescendo Campaign

moved steadily toward its goal.• The Annual Fund reached a new record and boasted over 4,000 donors. We know this bodes well for the future of our community and hope you agree. We look forward to seeing you at concerts often this year.

Sincerely,

Steve Swift JoAnn Falletta Daniel Hart Chair Music Director Executive Director

B U F F A L O P H I L H A R M O N I C O R C H E S T R A

786 Delaware Avenue, Buffalo, New York, 14209 • (716) 885 0331 • bpo.org

Report to the Community2017

photo: Joe Cascio

The BPO performed 129 concerts over a 38-week season consisting

of the M&T Classics and KeyBank Pops with Elderwood

Coffee Concerts, BPO Rocks, BlueCross BlueShield

of Western New York BPO Kids Series, Youth Concerts,

Summer, and many more.

The premiere of

An American Siddhartha with

Lehrer Dance set to the accompaniment of great

symphonic repertoire at UB Center for the Arts, was

another successful effort to broaden programming

and reach new and younger audiences.

Maestro Falletta’s season-long focus on

collaboration played out in a number of programs:

the partnership with Irish Classical Theater for a production of Peter Shaffer’s Amadeus set the all-time

single ticket record, with nearly 6,000 attendees

over three performances.

We celebrated Canada 150 with our

friends across the border with a special concert

and the release of a CD featuring Canadian pianist

Alain LeFevre performing the Mathieu Piano Concerto,

then turned Canalside on its head in June

with a tribute to the Tragically Hip

that drew over 10,000 fans.

One of the biggest moments of the year was

enLIGHTen, a concert produced in collaboration

with the Richardson Olmsted Campus

that featured fantastic light-mapping onto the historic

building. Thanks to creative partners Projex

and the technical support of BAV the concert

ended the season with an audience of over 15,000.

Summary & Highlights

photo: Cheryl Gorski

photo: LehreDance

photo: Joe Cascio

photo: David Candlena

photo: The Buffalo News

Our newly formed Diversity Council developed a number of community engagement events

including a special concert at St. Martin de Porres Catholic

Church and visits by a string quartet to East Side

churches, furthering a set of important goals to expand

our reach throughout the community.

Maestro John Morris Russell officially

began his tenure as Principal Pops conductor leading

dynamic programs such as the John Williams Tribute, the

Midtown Men and drawing record attendance

for his high-energy Holiday Pops.

Associate Conductor Stefan Sanders led 28

Youth Concerts that reached all K-6 graders in

Buffalo Public Schools, and helped

lift overall education program attendance to over

52,000 students from the eight counties of WNY.

We strengthened our ties to the

Polish Community with a rare conducting

appearance by famed composer Krzysztof Penderecki

in an exciting program that featured his Double

Concerto with Concertmaster Dennis Kim

and Principal Cellist Roman Mekinulov as soloists.

A number of crossover and rock programs drew

big crowds of first-time attendees to concerts, such as

former Police drummer Stewart Copeland

on the Classics Series and former Genesis guitarist

Steve Hackett on BPO Rocks.

Summary & Highlights

photo: David Candlena

photo: David Candlena

photo: David Candlena

Mission StatementThe Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra Society, Inc. provides a resident professional, major symphony orchestra

of artistic excellence and integrity to enrich the quality of life in Western New York through the presentation

of live symphonic music and other musical events which educate and entertain the broadest possible audiences

within and beyond the Western New York region.

The BPO is grateful for generous support from:Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra Society, Inc. | 2016-17 Board of Trustees

Stephen Swift-Chair • Angelo Fatta-Vice Chair • Nicole Tzetzo-Secretary • James Beardi-Treasurer

Cindy Abbott Letro • Karen Arrison • Douglas Bean • Janz Castelo* • Arthur Cryer

Peter Eliopoulos • Warren Emblidge • JoAnn Falletta+ • Don Gibson+ • Amy Habib Rittling

Daniel Hart+ • Mark Hodges* • Monte Hoffman* • Martha Hyde • William Keefer

William Maggio • Martha Malkiewicz* • Megan Prokes* • Allan Ripley+

Kelly Schultz • Roger Simon • Timothy Smith* • Karen Sperrazza • Scott Stenclik

Gary Szakmary • Michal Wadsworth • John Yurtchuk • John Zak+ • Cynthia Zane+ ex-officio * musician

Erie County

16-17 Financial Results

16-17 Concert Attendance212,114

Earned Revenue

38%

Artistic 62%

Production 10%

Marketing 12%

Fundraising 7%Administration

9%

Government Support

10% Endowment Income

15%

Summer 26% 55,335

Runouts/Tours Other 4%

8,980

Education 24% 51,573 Family 4%

7,484

Classics 22% 45,617

Rock/Pops 20% 43,125

Contributed Revenue

37%

Revenue $11,611 M Expenses $11,605 M

For access to the BPO’s annual audit and 990s visit bpo.org.