Recently, I put that question to the executive directors of symphony orchestras, several of whom have gone through successful turnarounds. I also talked with foundation executives and others who deal with arts organizations, a former university president who has been a trenchant critic of the way symphony orchestras go about their business, and even the general manager of the Atlanta Braves, a franchise that made one of the most dramatic turnarounds in baseball history in the 1990s. (See related story, 4F.)

For [William F.] Lester, a marketing expert who previously managed the San Antonio Symphony in Texas, another orchestra that came back from the dead and is now flourishing, the chief priority has to be beefing up concert attendance. This past season, the Florida Orchestra played to half-full halls.

"You've got to put fannies in the seats," Lester said. "And if that means you have to change programing, then so be it. I'm completely bored with the standard concert format that says you listen to an opera overture, a concerto you've heard 18 times before and then a Beethoven symphony. We're trying to monkey with the format in ways that create some excitement that goes beyond that small core of people for whom the orchestra is an important part of their life."