EVOLVE Business and Professional Magazine February 2019 | Page 17

and Hair, have all taken the stage. The venue was the summer home of the London Symphony
Orchestra for more than 30 years, and today it continues to pull in famed performers, including
symphony orchestras from Havana to Jerusalem and Shanghai.
As rich as the history is and as bustling the program, the auditorium doesn’t sell itself.
“Many people don’t even know that it exists, or that it is an option,” said Kathy Berman,
executive director of the Peabody Auditorium Foundation, a nonprofit that raises
funds for the programming. “Or they think it is out of their reach, that arts and
culture are only for the rich.”
This is a challenge for not only the Peabody but theaters across the U.S.
The 2008-09 economic recession continues to weigh on attendance and
grant funding, making it harder to afford marketing or to bring in
artists. More venues are running the risk of closure.
In 2010, the Peabody took another hit when the
London Symphony Orchestra decided to stop
playing the venue, ending an act that
had been a mainstay every
other year since 1966.
This left fans with
a deep sense of
loss.
FEBRUARY 2019 | 17 |