Right now is high-five time for the North Carolina Symphony, as the organization lets out a collective sigh of relief over the achievement of a major budgetary goal. But that's just bottom-line stuff. Another matter of great import happens next weekend -- the final show of one Jimmy Gilmore, who is retiring after an amazing 41-year run as the symphony's principle clarinet player.

Gilmore is the symphony's first musician to crack the 40-year mark, although he won't be the last. For more on that, see this story in Sunday's paper.

Over the past year, the North Carolina Symphony has endured the same fiscal trauma as every other arts organization in America, struggling to weather the recession. And the symphony has had added incentive to earn money, a challenge from the state legislature: Earn $8 million in revenue contributions in the fiscal year that ended June 30, and get another $1.5 million in funding.

To that end, the symphony held special fund-raising events this year including a Joshua Bell house concert in January and a Branford Marsalis benefit concert last month -- and it worked. Just in time, the symphony passed the $8 million mark by the end of June (with $44,000 to spare, even). So that extra $1.5 million should help make things a little less financially dire for the symphony going into next season.