The snow continued to pile up throughout the day, but the Concert had to go on as scheduled.

The decision to go forward with the Thomas Pandolfi concert in the face of the extreme weather conditions we experienced on Saturday was not taken lightly.  In fact, sensible business considerations were a major factor in that decision.  Coastal Concerts enters into binding contracts with musicians and their agents well in advance of every concert date.  As with all of our contracts, our contract with Mr. Pandolfi required that we provide certain things and that he provide certain services.  In this case we were to provide an appropriate venue, a tuned piano of certain specifications, and proper marketing for the event.  Mr. Pandolfi was required to show up at the venue at the specified time, and perform a concert agreed upon in advance.  For Saturday, January 30, we had arranged and paid for the hall, arranged and paid for the piano from Jacobs Music in Philadelphia and had the piano tuned on Saturday morning, and properly advertised and marketed the concert.  Mr. Pandolfi performed what he was contractually obligated to do – he showed up and played his concert.  Once he was here, if we had not given him the opportunity to play his concert, we still would have been obligated to pay him.  Our costs were fixed, whether we cancelled the concert or not.  Even knowing that the great majority of our audience members would make the sensible decision to not venture out on Saturday night, it made no sense to pay Mr. Pandolfi to sit in a hotel room instead of performing for whoever might be able to and wish to attend.

We did not have the option of postponing the concert and presenting it a later date.  To begin with, Mr. Pandolfi is booked a year or so in advance.  And our expenses for the hall and the piano were already obligated for the night in question.  It was to happen on the evening of January 30, or not at all.  In addition, we had received a grant from the Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation to support the Pandolfi engagement.  If we had cancelled the concert we would certainly have been required to refund the grant funds.  So, once it became clear that Mr. Pandolfi would be here to perform the concert, our sound business decision was to go forward with the event.

Fifty four intrepid souls ventured out on that nasty evening to hear Mr. Pandolfi.  Most of them purchased their tickets at the door.  The concert was excellent, and I wish that all of our supporters could have attended, but I understand the wise decisions so many of you made to stay safely home, warm and out of harm’s way.  In past years I have made exactly the same decision, that venturing out on potentially treacherous roads outweighed my desire to hear a particular concert.  That has happened to me in the past with Coastal Concerts, and with the Kennedy Center in Washington more often than I would have liked.  But in all instances I recognized that the decision to not attend the concert, even though it was “necessitated” by factors out of my control, was in fact my decision.  I was distressed that I had spent money for tickets I would not be using, but I did not expect to be compensated by either the Kennedy Center or Coastal Concerts.

Coastal Concerts is not yet collecting revenue at a rate that will cover our operating expenses this year.  Indeed, we made the decision a year ago that we would not raise ticket prices for this season in order to try to maintain our audience numbers in the face of very difficult financial times.  We must dip into operational reserves from past seasons in order to bring you this season.  While I understand the disappointment and frustration of our subscribers who could not attend the Pandolfi concert because of the unpredictable weather event which none of us could prevent, I would not be a responsible steward of Coastal Concerts resources if I were to recommend compensation to our subscribers for this unfortunate situation.  I will make sure that our entire Board of Directors knows of your concern, and I am in fact copying them on this message.  But my primary concern will be stewardship of Coastal Concerts resources in the best interests of the fiscal health of the organization, and our continued ability to serve our community.