BARRING RAIN, POPS WILL END IN THE BLACK

SAN DIEGO — Unless tonight’s and Saturday’s San Diego Philharmonic Summer Pops performances are rained out, the nine-week concert series will end in the black.

And barring any unexpected shut-down expenses, the philharmonic will pay musicians about $40,000 of a $120,000 salary cut made in July when attendance figures fell below initial projections, pops general manager Lee Ellen Hveem said Thursday.

The musicians, who decided to produce the concert series themselves after the indebted symphony chose not to, agreed to accept pay cuts rather than incur debts. The mid-series pay cut meant the weekly pops’ pay scale dropped from $525 to $325 per musician.

Many give credit for the success of the hurriedly put-together concerts to Hveem, 32, who was imported by the musicians from the Fort Wayne (Ind.) Philharmonic, where she is operations manager. Arriving in San Diego in May, Hveem had six weeks to set up and market the pops series.

“I’m glad I didn’t know then what I know now,” Hveem said this week. “It’s sometimes easier to do things when you’re naive and don’t know any better. You don’t know how large the difficulties are you’re trying to overcome.”

Hveem, who will return to Indiana next week, had success with the pops primarily through slashing expenses. She cut the initial budget to $860,000 from $1.2 million. Income for the season, including a critical $100,000 grant from Home Federal Savings & Loan, is projected to be $900,000.