Funding our orchestras

http://www.classicalsource.com/db_control/db_news.php?id=1077

Following the above story on the announcement that the Los Angeles Philharmonic has created the
Esa-Pekka Salonen Commissions Fund for the express purpose of
supporting the commissioning and performance of new works, I got thinking of the funding situation for orchestras in the UK.

Firstly, congratulations to the Californians for making such a pledge (so far having raised $1,600,000 for the fund).

I'm aware that the funding in America is very different, in that there is no state sponsorship, just individual and corporate giving. There are rumblings of similar donor schemes over here, but nowhere near the scale that they have in the States. When did anyone last donate several million pounds to the London Symphony for example?

I don't believe that the upper echelons of UK society have much less cash than their american equivalents (though maybe i'm being naive) and i'd like to believe that we are no less generous. In my limited experience of US orchestras, it doesn't take long to realise that many people love their orchestra as much as a local football team. They are proud of them and they are willing to let themselves be introduced to new work and led down new paths by their artistic staff and conductors. The millions of dollars in the bank must also help take the strain off and take a few chances.

It's a very sad case when you see many of the UK orchestral players looking exhausted and still running off to the next gig because the fees they receive barely cover the high London rents. Former LSO trombonist Ian Bousfield once said that his new job in the Vienna State Opera and Philharmonic was a joy, three times the pay for three times less work.

When compared to the Berlin Phil (where most of the members are driving the newest mercedes), the New York Phil or Chicago Symphony where the players are paid a tidy $150,000 and have the time off to enjoy it, our British musos are Dickensian.

Is there anything that can be done to promote this culture of individual giving to our cultural institutions? The fact that they remain some of the best orchestras in the World whilst running on a shoestring is proof that these are people we should be proud of.  With some generosity, this level of talent can be built on to create something to rival the Berlin, Vienna and Chicago orchestras, never mind 'Britain's got Talent' we know we have and they're in our concert halls earning £22k a year.

Can those who can afford it start to consider some US style pledges to safeguard these orchestras again from the famous UK rainy days?