The Minnesota Orchestra's 30th annual Sommerfest, starting July 17, has been scaled back to three weeks this year, and its Day of Music has been cancelled following Macy's withdrawal as sponsor. The orchestra is expected to announce other cost-saving measures later this week, as local arts organizations struggle with continuing economic pressures.

"Macy's let us know in the winter that in this economic climate they felt they could not support the Day of Music," said Gwen Pappas, the orchestra's director of public relations. Macy's also withdrew sponsorship of a similar Day of Music in Chicago this year.

While not divulging a dollar amount, Pappas said the Macy's backing had been "a really generous gift." The orchestra sought without success to find another sponsor for the free kickoff event that brought as many as 20,000 music lovers to Orchestra Hall and Peavey Plaza. It included a free Friday-night concert by the Minnesota Orchestra, which will not be offered this year.

Although last year's Sommerfest made a small surplus, orchestra officials worried about repeating that performance in a year marked by so much consumer retrenchment. Scaling back to three weeks was "a strategic move to be fiscally prudent," Pappas said.

Conductor Andrew Litton returns for his seventh season as Sommerfest music director, leading the orchestra in music of Johann Strauss, Mozart, Mendelssohn, Gershwin and Verdi. The festival that opens July 17 and runs through Aug. 1 will include orchestral works, chamber music, family concerts and jazz.

CLAUDE PECK