"I've been thinking about this for a while now and after 15 years in the business, I felt I needed to make a change," Bloom said.

Carolyn Berry, chair of the Honolulu Symphony Board of Directors, will assume leadership duties until a successor is found.

Bloom's resignation marks the second major departure from the symphony in less than a year. Last June, maestro Samuel Wong announced that he was stepping down after this season.

Bloom came to Hawai'i with a reputation for kick-starting sputtering symphony organizations. He previously served as general manager of the Buffalo Philharmonic, director of operations and personnel for the Sacramento Symphony, and executive director of the Tacoma Symphony Orchestra.

Under his leadership, the Ho-nolulu Symphony erased $1.5 million in debt and established a $500,000 cash reserve. The symphony ended last fiscal year with a $68,000 surplus, its first since 1990.

"It's what they brought me here to do," Bloom said.

The symphony is within 4 percent of its annual operating budget of $6.3 million this year. Bloom said adjustments will be made on a monthly basis to assure "a soft landing" at the end of the season.

Michael Largarticha, president of Local 677 of the Musician's Association of Hawai'i, praised Bloom for the enthusiasm he brought to his job and for his willingness to work productively with the union.

Bloom played a key role in negotiations between the symphony and the musicians union two years ago, when both sides agreed to across-the-board pay cuts to help eliminate the accumulated deficit, thereby securing $2.1 million in contingent donations from three community members.

"By focusing on planning, (Bloom) helped create a strong foundation for future financial growth and artistic advancement," Largarticha said. "On a personal level, I will miss the frank and honest working relationship that we developed during his tenure, where we were able to put aside our roles as 'union' and 'management' and discuss how to build for success."

Bloom's leadership also has been reflected in the symphony's programming. He's been a strong supporter of the symphony's cross-cultural "East Meets West" series, which integrates traditional Eastern music into historically Western programming, and as well as conductor Matt Catingub's Pops program.

Under Bloom's watch, the symphony earned its first Grammy nomination, joined in an interactive educational program with the Carnegie Hall Weill School of Music, and merged with the Oahu Choral Society (now the Honolulu Symphony Chorus under the direction of Karen Kennedy).

Still, Bloom said his legacy with the symphony will likely be his work to secure a sound financial future. It's work, he says, that can quickly be undone if the government, the arts community and the community at large don't address the long-term problems facing orchestras nationwide.

"The continuing challenge is people's changing lifestyle," he said. "People will go to the movies because there's a theater on every corner and there's seven showings a day. We have two performances a week, at a specific time and a specific place.

"There are more demands on people's time and we need to surmount that somehow if we're going to continue to survive."