Andy Morrison, The Blade Resident conductor Chelsea Tipton II leads the Toledo Symphony during rehearsal. Click photo for larger image. Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra Midwest Tour Hans Graf, conductor; Sarah Chang, violin. Repertoire: Strauss' "Don Juan," Sibelius' Violin Concerto and Rachmaninoff's Symphony No. 2. Toledo Museum of Art: 8 p.m. Nov. 30 University of Notre Dame: 7:30 p.m. Dec. 1 University of Illinois, Urbana: 7:30 p.m. Dec. 2 University of Indiana, Bloomington: 8 p.m. Dec. 3 The PSO also performs at Denison University in Granville, Ohio, at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, conducted by Daniel Meyer.

The Big Five. The top tier. The large budget.

When it comes to assessing the state of American orchestras, the focus invariably centers on the giants of the industry. If ensembles such as the Philadelphia Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra post deficits, the news rings out like a cymbal crash. If the Pittsburgh Symphony, Cleveland Orchestra or Los Angeles Philharmonic misstep financially, it's seen as the national tempo.

But most orchestral musicians take their seats on the stages of smaller cities, performing in orchestras not nearly as financially troubled as the big boys, if troubled at all. In fact, about 600 professional orchestras now operate in the United States, according to a new study done at the University of Cincinnati. That would seem to be an astounding figure for an art form many industry experts predicted would be extinct by now.

This week the Pittsburgh Symphony will travel to several Midwest cities in a tour conducted by Hans Graf and featuring violinist Sarah Chang. Casual observers might expect it would arrive in Granville and Toledo, Ohio; South Bend and Bloomington, Ind.; and Champaign-Urbana, Ill., as the only live orchestra that music lovers there would hear all year.

Think again. Every one of these towns has an orchestra to call its own. America brims with excellent small and midsize orchestras -- many in cities that the Pittsburgh Symphony will visit on its Midwest tour -- that enhance the culture of their communities as well as keep classical music viable nationally.

"The health of the small orchestra is critical to the future of American classical music," says Larry Tamburri, president of the Pittsburgh Symphony.

"These smaller symphonies serve to bridge the gap between major metropolitan areas and their direct communities," writes Brandon VanWaeyenberghe in his study, "Musical Chairs."

And in terms of the bottom line, they're often more financially sound than the major orchestras with their longer seasons and larger endowments.

"A higher percentage of smaller orchestras are operating with balanced budgets than the larger orchestras," says Henry Fogel, president of the American Symphony Orchestra League. "The bigger orchestra's cost structure is more rigid; the small orchestras are much more flexible. They can adjust to financial difficulties much more quickly."

The Toledo Symphony is a case in point: "We have never been in a stronger position financially," says Robert Bell, its executive director.

The American Symphony Orchestra League designates professional orchestra tiers according to annual budget size, from Group 1, with budgets of roughly $14 million or more, to Group 7, with budgets of $124,000 to $450,000. Only the first group contains full-time orchestras.

That means competition between orchestras -- for talent, for audience -- is less than might be imagined, says Mr. VanWaeyenberghe. "While the American landscape is covered with over 600 professional symphony orchestras, few actually compete with each other for the same market."

On the contrary, smaller orchestras often rely on having peers in the area. "You have geographical areas where the same musicians drive to perform in more than one orchestra," says Mr. Fogel. "If a group is in the red, it doesn't mean that there are too many [orchestras]; it may mean it isn't run well or doesn't have the best product out there."

Strength in small numbers

While the Pittsburgh Symphony, a Group 1 orchestra with a budget of $30.5 million, is known for its community work, most small orchestras outpace their bigger brothers in engaging the community. For long-term stability, this is as important a factor as structural flexibility.

The Champaign-Urbana Symphony, a Group 7 orchestra, has no full-time staffers and a budget of $280,000. However, it still managed to bus in 7,000 students last season for concerts. It also sends small ensembles to schools throughout the region.

Recently, it created a family concert. "We try to reach out to the young family that can't go to the symphony and pay a baby sitter," says Megan Holland, executive director. Even in fund-raising, she says it is crucial that they cater to the public, not the other way around. "My board is up with what is going on; every fund-raiser we do is on the edge. Next will be a raffle containing iPods."

Financially, the Champaign-Urbana Symphony is on solid footing, she says. "We ended last year with a deficit under $10,000, and this year we plan to not have that. We have had increases in salary and staff hours. Over the last three years we have added two concerts to the season."

The Toledo Symphony, a Group 2 orchestra with a $6 million budget, throws a particularly wide net out to its community. Mr. Fogel calls it a model in creating a relationship with a region.

"The whole thing about reaching out to the community -- we wrote the book on that," says Mr. Bell. "We were doing that in the '60s, not just in suburbs but inner city and rural areas. We are not into the vanity thing. Some orchestras of our size make an issue of playing in Carnegie Hall, but the economics don't make sense. We are making a more profound effect in our community this way."

The orchestra also provides music for nearly every event where instrumentalists are needed. The Toledo Symphony musicians play everything from musicals and operas to weddings and funerals.

"We try to provide a service to the community, and we feel that they support us financially," says Mr. Bell. "Last year we did over 400 events."

"The symphony is everywhere in town," says clarinetist Ron Samuels, who was hired by the Pittsburgh Symphony after he played in Toledo for 16 years.

The method is not without some controversy, in that it places the Toledo Symphony in the realm of a monopoly. The concept is not just to funnel income from sundry musical needs through the symphony, but to make sure there is enough work for musicians to make a living.

"It was a matter of survival," says Mr. Bell. "I was always looking for ways to keep people here." The Toledo Symphony had a slight deficit last year, but Mr. Bell says that is balanced by a stronger endowment than in years past ($14 million at present).

The South Bend Symphony has a budget of $1.5 million, placing it in Group 5. But it doesn't own its hall (which recently got a massive renovation), has an agreement with the University of Notre Dame for a guest artist each year and has no deficit.

"We have to be more creative," says Joyce Stifel, citing a recent Halloween concert with special effects that was received well. "Becoming more accessible to our audience will be a key point."

But how do they sound?

Musical quality is subjective, but many in the field agree that the general quality level of classical music performances has been rising in the past 25 years.

"I recently heard a performance of Mahler's Fifth Symphony by the West Virginia Symphony that I would have presented as an impresario in Carnegie Hall, no apologies," says Mr. Fogel.

"I remember driving within the radio limits of Toledo, listening to some Beethoven symphony, and saying that's pretty good, [only to hear], 'You have just heard the Toledo Symphony,' " says Samuels. "I was pleasantly surprised by the level."

Whether it's the McKeesport Symphony or the South Bend Symphony, the key is competency. If the performance doesn't rise to the lofty heights of the Berlin Philharmonic under Herbert von Karajan, well, neither do many performances by Group 1 orchestras.

A major reason for the quality is the talent that pours into the market place.

"Every year colleges and conservatories graduate 3,000 students who have majored on orchestral instruments," says Mr. Fogel. "There are only roughly 150 positions that open up." That figure bodes poorly for students but promises that even small orchestras can land talented players.

Some of these students will stay in the smaller groups; some, like Mr. Samuels will move on. The bottom line is that the level of performance overall is bolstered by the competition.

"There is a vibrant orchestra life in America, no question about it," says Mr. Tamburri.

Sizing each other up

What can orchestras learn from each other?

Plenty.

"What they do in terms of community engagement is big there," says Mr. Tamburri. "How they accomplish that, being embedded in the community, is something worth looking at."

To facilitate communication, in 1999 the Andrew Mellon Foundation initiated what's called the Orchestra Forum. It brings a group of more than a dozen orchestras of various sizes together on a regular basis to "explore the common issues they face," says program officer Cathy Maciariello.

"Orchestras have a lot to learn from each other despite what size they are," she says. "They share many common problems and opportunities because the structure of orchestras are the same across the country. It is not a question of budget size, but how people relate to each other."

The Pittsburgh and Toledo symphonies are Mellon members. When the Pittsburgh Symphony performs there Wednesday, Mellon has arranged for a panel discussion and dinner for the members to further discuss pertinent issues.

Previous discussions have yielded results. "Toledo is one of the more interesting orchestras in the United States," says Mr. Tamburri, formerly head of the New Jersey Symphony. "I have borrowed more than one idea from the Toledo Symphony in New Jersey and Pittsburgh."

One idea was the expansive role that Toledo musicians play in running the orchestra. Its personnel manager, sales staff and librarians are just some of the musicians who also sit on the staff. Mr. Bell himself still occasionally plays timpani. "We were on a modest budget, and because musicians tend to be pretty bright and we needed help [I thought], why not get someone who is conversant in the field?"

"The idea of the musicians being involved in the institution -- the smaller orchestras are ahead of bigger orchestras in that," says Mr. Tamburri. The Pittsburgh Symphony hasn't follow that path directly, but since operating without a music director, musicians have increased their input on many levels of the organization, from artistic planning to musician hiring.

"There are finite resources, financially and intellectually in town for just the classics," says Mr. Bell.

It may just be that working with less has taught smaller symphonies to do more. A musical lesson even the more accomplished groups can learn from.