With approximately 80 full-time, tenured musicians, the orchestra was led for most of its existence by British conductor and music director James Judd.
Over the course of the Philharmonic's entire history, the orchestra (at its peak the largest performing arts organization in Florida, and the 20th largest orchestra in the US) rehearsed in a tiny rehearsal hall, dubbed Philharmonic Hall, that was situated on North Federal Highway in Fort Lauderdale just south of Sunrise Blvd, and which had also been the home of the Fort Lauderdale Symphony.
This acoustically dreadful room would be the sole venue for Philharmonic rehearsals and would host scores of internationally renowned soloists and conductors.
In addition to its Tri-County subscription concerts, the Philharmonic continued the Fort Lauderdale Symphony's decades-old legacy serving as the resident pit orchestra of the Florida Grand Opera, a relationship that remained intact until 2000 and which was a major source of operating revenue.
The orchestra continued to grow in size, quality and prestige throughout the 1990s under the direction of Judd, who shared an amicable relationship with the musicians through much of his tenure.
However, nagging financial struggles combined with disputes between the musicians and management led to increasing discord which culminated in a strike in the autumn of 2000.
In 1991, music director James Judd argued that if management couldn't raise the musicians' salaries up to the level of Atlanta Symphony by 1993, then "there is a limit to what I can do for the orchestra."
[12] The month-long strike ended after the orchestra accepted a 30 percent pay increase over five years, though many musicians expressed frustration for what they considered a "vote for surrender" on job security issues.
[15] James Judd was swiftly replaced on November 27, just seven days after his resignation, by veteran violinist and conductor Joseph Silverstein who would take the title of Acting Music Director for two seasons.
Perhaps the most widely questioned piece of the controversy is the "ultimatum," issued by orchestra chairman Dan Lewis on April 22, stating that bankruptcy was imminent unless the community would produce $20 million.
This approach to fundraising has been criticized as being excessively confrontational and unlikely to provide results as it could create an attitude of unwillingness to contribute to an organization whose bankruptcy was imminent anyway.
Lewis, while serving on the board of the Florida Philharmonic made unprecedented contributions to the Cleveland group, including a single donation of $10 million, the orchestra's largest ever.
[27] Florida Philharmonic artistic adviser Julian Kreeger said that only "if one was paranoid" would one draw connections between Lewis and Cleveland's Miami residency.
The editorial also referenced constant rapid changes to the managerial staff as detrimental to establishing a real strategy for long-term growth.
One major donor to the South Floridian arts community commented that "it was ridiculous to ask for that kind of money in that time frame.
"[26] Odder still was that when the community failed to produce the sum within 10 days, Lewis announced that they actually only needed $4 million, but definitely within a week, leading to the appearance that the orchestra's management didn't have a clear grasp of what they were doing.