Success in Kansas City

From the Kansas City Philharmonic came a cacophony of sweet and sour notes: the too-familiar sweet notes of Brahms and the too-familiar sour notes of an empty cash register. Conductor Karl Krueger had signed up with the Detroit Symphony. Sponsors debated whether to try out a new conductor or cancel the next concert season. In the end, they hired lanky Efrem Kurtz. Since that time, three years ago, they haven't had a moment's regret.

Kurtz found only 700 subscribers on the books for a ten-concert season. Today 46-year-old Efrem Kurtz runs one of the most financially successful symphonies in the U.S. His orchestra earns 85% of its annual $198,000 budget at the box office and by radio contracts (most major orchestras are lucky to bring in 70% of their keep). The orchestra plays more than 70 concerts a year, many of which are broadcast.

Efrem Kurtz was born in Russia, but after Pullman-jumping back & forth across the U.S. for nine years, as musical director of the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, he is accustomed to U.S. audiences. He believes in educating his listeners gradually. Says he: ''I exposed them, step by step, to better music than Strauss waltzes and Tchaikovsky. So we have gone from Victor Herbert to Aaron Copland, from Rachmaninoff to Shostakovich." He is one of the most relaxed conductors in the business, but believes that the waving of his long spidery arms helps both the orchestra and audience to understand the music.

Hot Anchors. Kurtz is a pal of Missouri's Artist Thomas Hart Benton (who plays the harmonica in chamber music sessions with Kurtz). Kurtz, likewise an amateur in Benton's field, paints watercolors.

At the beginning of each season, Kurtz packs in 20,000 Kansans for a free music festival (sponsored by a local drug chain) with soloists like Rise Stevens, Gladys Swarthout, Alec Templeton. Not above hoking a bit, Kurtz last fall led the band while Benny Goodman played Dizzy Fingers, then conducted an unrehearsed hot chorus of Anchors Aweigh.

Sharpened Ears. Like Kansas City's, most of the 70 professional U.S. symphony orchestras were having a boom year. In Texas last week, 12,000 people heard the rising young San Antonio Symphony, 4,000 the recently reorganized Dallas Symphony. The Oklahoma City Symphony played to the largest audience (5,000) in its history. The Columbus Philharmonic, which grew from semiprofessional to professional rank this season, made $1,800 profit on one pop concert. Radios and records have sharpened U.S. ears for symphony; they have also forced local orchestras to raise their standards.

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