If the Honolulu Symphony is to stay afloat, interim president and CEO Gideon Toeplitz figures new generations of music lovers will have to have some Berlioz and Brahms mixed in with their Bow Wow and Black Eyed Peas.

"Like other orchestras, we've had some challenges relating to the community," he said.

"Historically, the concert hall was full and people donated money because the art form was well accepted," Toeplitz said. "That's changed over the last 20 or 30 years, in part because of a lack of arts education in the schools. If there is no opportunity for young people to think about classical music, they won't."

Outreach to young listeners, continued fundraising and the search for personnel to fill key positions are on the to-do list for the Honolulu Symphony, which finds itself poised in a state of transition. And Toeplitz, the symphony's interim leader, is working to keep goals in focus.

At the symphony board of directors' monthly meeting last week, Toeplitz gained unanimous approval to make education and outreach a top priority.

That paves the way for the symphony to become more involved and more interactive with the community — and in so doing, broaden its base of potential donors, Toeplitz said.

In particular, Toeplitz would like to see the symphony work with businesses to bring classical music performances to communities throughout the state. "We are called the Honolulu Symphony, but we're really the state orchestra," he said.

Community performances and other new education and outreach programs could begin with the 2006-07 season.

Money remains a concern, but the Honolulu Symphony is not in crisis, Toeplitz said. After posting a modest $68,000 surplus in the 2003-04 fiscal year — its first surplus in a decade — the symphony ended the last fiscal year with a $275,000 deficit.

This year, the symphony's operating budget will increase from $6.3 million to $6.7 million.

While the Honolulu Symphony lags other symphonies of its size in government support and endowment, Toeplitz said it is in decent overall condition and is, "in fact, doing very well compared to many other symphonies."

Still, Toeplitz said, the symphony needs to have a sense of urgency in addressing its short- and long-term funding problems. He said the new emphasis on education and outreach does just that.

Toeplitz said he and his staff will work on a proposal to pay for a full-time educational director position. They will also start to look at ways to coordinate community performances for a broad range of audiences.

"Before we used to go in with one menu and say, 'You have to eat what's on the menu,' " Toeplitz said. "But different communities may want different things. We have to find people in the various communities and ask, 'What can we do for you?' "

While Toeplitz said the symphony should not expect these programs to have an immediate effect on ticket sales, he expects that exposing people to classical music will build interest and demonstrate the symphony's willingness to serve the community at large.

The notion that the symphony was too removed from the community at large and that it relied too heavily on a small number of donors has been a consistent source of tension on the board — a situation that came to a head earlier this year with the resignations of board members Vicky Cayetano, Mike O'Neill and Mike Fisch.

Toeplitz, the former executive vice president and managing director of the Pittsburgh Symphony, was retained via the Arts Consulting Group to oversee symphony operations while a permanent replacement is sought for former executive director Stephen Bloom.

The search committee in charge of finding a permanent president and CEO is expected to narrow its list of candidates next month. A decision could be made by the new year.

Reach Michael Tsai at mtsai@honoluluadvertiser.com.