Drop a rock like PAM in the pool of the arts in Lancaster, and watch the ripples spread far and wide. The Pennsylvania Academy of Music created quite a splash when it opened its new building. Now we know it was a belly flop into a financial fiasco.

The betrayal of the trust that so many donors placed in PAM is but one of its ripples. Now some wonder if other performing arts organizations are in trouble. From my own survey, I can report that the performing arts are thriving in Lancaster, with sound financial management and high artistic standards.

This is really an exceptional community for the arts, not just for performances but also for education and opportunities for local talent. A good example is the Lancaster Symphony Orchestra. It is watching its costs carefully, in challenging years for both subscription income and donor commitments. But it did the smart thing in postponing the (expensive) Berlioz "Fantastic Symphony" for two years. It also put on a delightful Mozart concert with the musicians in period costume — the smaller orchestra (with affordable costumes) was much less costly than a regular concert.

If you want to be stirred by glorious music for orchestra and massed chorus by a legendary composer, be sure to attend one of the symphony's performances of the Verdi "Requiem" in November. You will be moved. You will put aside any reservations about how vibrant the arts are in Lancaster.

You may not know that the symphony will again introduce classical instrumental music to every third-through-fifth-grader in the School District of Lancaster at May concerts at McCaskey High School, attended last spring by 4,200 kids. And the Sound Discovery Program offers open rehearsals to other students and to senior citizens, as well as provides instruments on loan to children who are not able to pay for them.

Who pays for all this? Individual and business donors who believe young people will enjoy orchestral music — if they can just hear it.

OperaLancaster is looking at the prospect of a breakout season in the fall. Coming off successful presentations of Puccini's "La Boheme" last month, the company seeks financial support for a remarkable 2010-11 season. It will feature a world premiere of a musical drama composed by a Lancaster woman, several performances of the beloved "Amahl and the Night Visitors" and a fully staged production of "Tosca" (love, lust, betrayal and gorgeous music). OperaLancaster will present eight evening "Lemonade Concerts" of vocal music in July and August.

There are four neat things about OperaLancaster. First, it is the only company presenting a season of live opera in this part of the state. Second, it offers accessible opera for people who don't think they like opera — but have not experienced it. (This is not fat ladies carrying spears.) Third, we get to hear a good mix of fine voices from this area and the surrounding region. Fourth, it has a large core of volunteers who work for the love of opera.

OperaLancaster doesn't need a lot of money. It has low fixed expenses. But it needs to build up an operating reserve of about $125,000. It's like a family that would like to have a comfortable balance in a savings account, so that it doesn't have to live paycheck to paycheck for ongoing expenses.

Look around at the performing arts in Lancaster, and you have to start with the Fulton.

You won't have to go to New York to see "Monty Python's Spamalot" and "Sweeney Todd" next season. How often have we heard people leaving the theater say, "That was as good as you will see on Broadway"?

The Ephrata Performing Arts Center does not operate on the same scale as the Fulton. However, no single performance on a Lancaster County stage has been better than the portrayal of "Hamlet" by Tim Riggs this winter.

The Theater of the Seventh Sister now has a permanent venue in the former Stahr Armory. It put on some good drama, including impressive Tim Riggs in "Stones in His Pocket."

The Lancaster British Brass Band will shake First Presbyterian Church on May 1 with a concert. The Millersville University Single-Reed Symposium will perform its special kind of music Friday at St. James Episcopal Church. Franklin & Marshall invites us to hear chamber singers, its symphonic wind ensemble and its jazz ensemble in concerts this spring.

To return to where this column started, we have to say that PAM's financial troubles have not dimmed the brilliance of the Newstead Trio, which is probably the best musical ensemble in Lancaster history. These musicians are applauded around the world. We are fortunate that PAM is their home base.

Let's not take for granted what a special place this is for the flowering of the performing (and visual) arts. Keep watering those plants.