The program dispensed more than $13 million from 1994 to 2004, a critical period for orchestras. After decades of growth, the field was experiencing financial crises that appeared to be symptomatic of larger problems. Knight’s program attempted to tackle those problems head-on.

This history offers a chronology of the Magic of Music program and briefly documents the individual grants and grantees. But its intent has been to identify what was most significant for funders and for orchestras and to provide insights for other nonprofit arts organizations as well. To be useful, this work has attempted to reach beyond the Knight Foundation family and the small pool of orchestras that benefited from its largesse to capitalize on one of the most valuable roles foundations can play – to serve as a laboratory for learning. Creed Black, the Knight Foundation president who launched Magic of Music, hoped that would be the program’s lasting legacy, which it has turned out to be. The Magic of Music program’s impact on the field of orchestras was at once modest and significant. It was modest since it did not change the course of history for the orchestra field as some, perhaps naively, had hoped it would. It was significant because it was able to dispel long-held myths, foster new ways of doing business and point to promising innovations. It supported groundbreaking research, stimulated programmatic experimentation and encouraged other funders to explore change in the orchestra field. It supported symposia for field leaders, produced technical publications and fostered new forms of joint activity among orchestras. Knight Foundation leaders were not shy about sharing their opinions publicly nor were they reluctant to admit when they had made mistakes.

The material on which this history is based is rich with their insights.

Why was the program undertaken in the first place? Knight Foundation – which operates primarily in 26 communities across the United States – could no longer respond to the numerous requests for emergency funding to save local symphonies. Its staff believed, quite rightly as it turned out, that “save the symphony” campaigns tend to produce temporary results at best and are counterproductive at worst, unless they are accompanied by fundamental institutional change. Further, during the course of Magic of Music, the foundation learned that orchestras on the brink of financial disaster are not good candidates for financial assistance. Funding aimed at fostering transformational change during times of crisis will inevitably be diverted to short-term fixes. It also became clear that without strong unified leadership from all segments of an orchestra’s family – music director, musicians, board and executive leadership – change is unlikely. Such unified leadership becomes more difficult when organizations are under great stress.