Shoring Up

The Met seeks $100 million

Financially speaking, most U.S. opera companies--like most U.S. arts institutions of any kind--are built on a sort of San Andreas fault. Each year they can expect some crevasse to open up between income and expenses. This gap can be filled in on a year-to-year basis through contributions. But for shoring up the foundation over a longer period, there is nothing like an endowment: a large chunk of money tucked away in solid investments. The annual income from the investments (nowadays from 8% to 10%) cushions deficits, while the principal provides a hedge against inflation and a bulwark against various disasters.

As a last resort, an endowment can be dipped into when there is no other way to stay in business. The Lyric Opera of Chicago has had to use its fund in just this way, draining it from $2 million to a current $3,500. The San Francisco Opera, on the other hand, is able to plow half the income from its $5 million fund back into future growth.

Surprisingly, the Metropolitan Opera, whose $43 million annual budget is four times as large as that of any other U.S. company, has a relatively paltry endowment of $2.2 million. In a press conference last week, Met President Frank Taplin and Executive Director Anthony Bliss announced plans to remedy that situation in a big way. By its 100th anniversary season in 1983-84, they said, the Met aims to raise its endowment to $100 million. Its nationwide campaign has already gathered $33 million in pledges, including a single gift of $5 million from the Texaco Philanthropic Foundation.

Among other things, the endowment will enable the Met to make improvements to its building and stage, to be freer in scheduling worthwhile productions with doubtful box-office appeal and to expand programs like its cultivation of young singers. With the additional money going into such projects, Bliss pointed out, there will be no letup in the need for annual contributions to offset regular operating deficits. Those contributions now total $14.6 million and will almost certainly have to go higher in future seasons. Is there a danger that the endowment campaign will undercut the annual fund raising? Bliss said no, predicting instead that it would foster greater interest and confidence in the Met. "Over the years there have been times when we didn't think we could afford to open our doors or meet our payroll," he said. "This endowment will ensure our institutional independence and long-range stability."

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