The Honolulu Symphony Society is a vital cultural institution, one which in addition to its artistic contributions has played a priceless educational role across Hawai'i for generations.

The society also provides the orchestra for the Honolulu opera and ballet companies, touching thousands of additional Hawai'i performing arts patrons and students every year.

The symphony's financial and organizational problems have existed for decades. With the recent Chapter 11 filing of the Honolulu Symphony Society, it is enlightening to look back at earlier attempts over the years to put the organization on a sound financial footing. In 1993, when the symphony was already experiencing financial difficulties, the musicians launched an entirely new 501(c)(3) entity under the name "Hawaii Symphony Orchestra" with a large core of more than 60 full-time musicians (the same symphony model that the society was operating with prior to the Dec. 18 Chapter 11 filing).

That model never achieved sufficient organizational or financial stability, and after a brief period, the newly formed orchestra approached the HSS board for assistance. Eventually a new season was launched under the original Honolulu Symphony Society. This experience further validates the board's decision to restructure under Chapter 11 and to reorganize under a more viable model.

The current board is in effect a body of "executive volunteers" who inherited the institution in the midst of serious and long-term ongoing crises, further exacerbated by the continuing global financial crisis. The board has dedicated countless hours and contributed many thousands of dollars in direct support to the musicians, staff and operations.

By its recent vote to reorganize and restore solvency to the institution, the board confirmed the courage of its conviction that the symphony requires a genuine new beginning. This is not the time to look for blame but rather a time to search together for creative alternatives.

It is now the time to steer the organization in a new direction, a direction which will allow the society to address its debts effectively and responsibly while creating a viable new plan and business model to realize a successful and achievable future. Change scares people, but nevertheless at times it is absolutely necessary.

This change, under the auspices of the federal court, will provide a means whereby all of the active constituencies, including musicians, symphony patrons and donors, have input into what the symphony will look like at the end of the reorganizational process.

As for the current widely debated issue of core orchestra size, it is not correct that the plan of the board is simply to reduce the core size. Yes, we do believe that this antiquated business model has proven incapable of subsistence and that a modified core is one viable option for organizational redesign. Some smaller cities have shifted to "per-service orchestras" where core musicians are paid per service and may be contracted for a guaranteed minimum amount of services per year.

The HSO board is working to identify alternative models that might be sustainable for our community. The reorganizational process allows for all of the relevant constituencies to have a voice and make their case in a forum where the parties are subject to orderly change in a fiscally responsible manner.

The board is committed to putting the society's affairs for once in proper order, regrouping and re-launching effectively. Since well before the time of our recently announced Chapter 11 filing, the symphony has been driven by only some of the relevant constituencies; with this filing, there is an opportunity to find a real and long-lasting solution to the problems of this symphony and to produce a well-researched, dynamic and practical vision for the future.

Finally, we have a remarkably dynamic and responsible new executive director in place to lead us toward a new beginning. The best way to help this symphony now and for the future is to get involved: Donate money, resources or time so as to allow us to meet minimized but necessary expenses during our transition period of the coming months. Let us show our unequivocal support of our symphony and all it has done to enrich and enhance our community and culture for more than 100 years. It's ours to lose.