Budget Surplus and Growing Audiences Buoy Cleveland Orchestra

As many big-city orchestras struggle with red ink and falling ticket sales, the Cleveland Orchestra released an annual report Tuesday that showed a nearly $1-million budget surplus and rising attendance, including striking gains among young people, The Plain Dealer reports. The organization, which in recent years had its own troubles balancing the books, ended the 2014 fiscal year $941,000 in the black on a $48.7-million budget and increased its endowment by more than 14 percent to a record $172-million.

The budget surplus came despite a wave of free and low-cost ticket offers as part of appeals to draw younger symphony-goers. Discounted paid attendance by college students rose 50 percent, and some 22,000 minors attended events for free, doubling the previous year’s total.