German cellist Alban Gerhardt, one of the most sought-after cellists of his generation, will join the Rhode Island Philharmonic Saturday, soloing in the Dvorak concerto as part of an all-Czech program.

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The Rhode Island Philharmonic has come a long way since it occupied a cramped walkup on Westminster Street in downtown Providence. This month it opened up shop in a 40,000-square-foot complex in East Providence that now houses its offices and the new Carter Center for Music Education.

The orchestra, which kicks off its season Saturday, is now trying to raise $12 million to pay for the school and sweeten its endowment. To date the Philharmonic has raised $6.5 million.

It’s a tall order, opening an educational wing and launching a new season of classical music during tough economic times. But David Beauchesne, the orchestra’s new executive director, believes the organization has never had a better moment to witness growth.

“I think we’re in the best position we’ve ever been in as an institution to grow the orchestra and the school,” he said.

That’s because Beauchesne, who took over the $4-million Philharmonic in May, thinks the new school will help build the audience for the orchestra, whose subscription base has hovered around 1,300 in recent years for classical programs.

The orchestra, for its part, lends prestige to the school, which serves about 1,600 students.

Beauchesne, 36, said a partnership such as this, where an orchestra runs an educational institution, is rare and not for everyone. The Boston Symphony has no need for a school, he said, because a couple of music schools in the Boston area offer programs for youngsters.

But in Rhode Island there was a void when it came to music education. The Music School has been around for two decades, but it was struggling when it merged with the orchestra eight years ago. It had a lot of students, but no home. Lessons were given during afternoons and evenings at Nathanael Greene Middle School on Chalkstone Avenue in Providence.

Beauchesne (pronounced Bo-shane) thinks in retrospect the merger was a wise move. The school got a financial boost from the orchestra, which spends about half its budget on education, while the orchestra got a full-fledged educational component, which is bound to pay dividends in the future. Having a music school under its wing means that the orchestra will be producing students who as adults are more apt to attend classical music events.

And orchestra members who teach at the school, whose building used to house The Meeting Street School, will serve as ambassadors for the Philharmonic. That should pay off in the short run, as they give lessons and master classes to both kids and adults. Music school students get free tickets to open rehearsals and discounts for classical concerts. If students are attending Philharmonic events, parents are more likely to tag along.

And once the Philharmonic gets new patrons in the door, it believes they will come back. That has been proven by its high subscription renewal rate.

“The school provides an opportunity for orchestra members to be connected to people in this community day in and day out,” said Beauchesne. “It will keep the connection with the orchestra alive even when it’s not on stage. It builds a level of engagement that not only affects the student but translates to the family.”

Beauchesne is just as pleased about changes at Veterans Memorial Auditorium, where the Philharmonic holds its classical concerts. The 2,000-seat state-owned hall in Providence, which had been run by a private foundation, was taken over last month by the Rhode Island Convention Center Authority and Professional Facilities Management, a subsidiary of the Providence Performing Arts Center.

In the past, said Beauchesne, VMA was not marketed as a destination for cultural events. People he has talked to didn’t seem to know that there is free parking nearby and that the Philharmonic provides free shuttles from the parking lots to the hall.

He expects all that to change with the new management in charge of the marketing. The new director of the hall, Stephen N. Habl, has already booked a Christmas show. In the past, Vets did not present events, but acted as a rental for acts looking for a stage.

“Many people aren’t aware of it,” said Beauchesne of Vets. “It’s a little out of the way. But I think that will change with new management, which is geared toward making VMA a cultural destination for the state and region.

“I’m as excited about the changes at VMA and the impact it could have on our orchestra as I am about our new school.”

Beauchesne has a soft spot for the Philharmonic’s music school. He was director of it until he took over for David Wax, who was told last fall that his contract would not be renewed.

Beauchesne, who grew up in British Columbia, is a trombonist, who was educated at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester and who put together a community music division at Georgia State University, where he completed course work for a doctorate.

He said that as an undergraduate, he was more interested in the future of classical music than playing in an orchestra. Even though orchestras have fallen on hard times, he feels interest in classical music goes through cycles. He doesn’t think the public can do without it.

“People don’t stop buying cars just because General Motors is in trouble,” he said.

Beauchesne said he has heard rumblings that some orchestra members feel the school has become a drain on the Philharmonic, that it is taking energy and resources away from the orchestra. That, he says, is understandable. There has been a big push over the summer to get the school up and running by its September target date.

But the music school has been holding its own financially. The school and orchestra have basically broken even for the last three years, said Beauchesne.

Beauchesne said there has been an effort to get the school on a par with the orchestras, which is considered one of the best regional orchestras around. It was a matter of building the school from scratch, and generating enough excitement about the project to be able to raise the private dollars to fund it.

The idea was to make the school “co-equal” with the Philharmonic.

“There was an intensity around the school that will be shifting to a better balance,” he said.

Right now the orchestra is gearing up for its new season. The Philharmonic will be joined Saturday by German cellist Alban Gerhardt for an all-Czech program. Gerhardt, who is one of the most sought-after cellists of his generation, will be soloing in the Dvorak concerto.

As a promotional effort, the orchestra has for a limited time been offering half-price subscriptions to new subscribers.

But Beauchesne is also bringing in a marketing specialist from Brandeis University in Massachusetts to try to reach a bigger audience.

There is also talk about bringing back family concerts, which fizzled for financial reasons. Beauchesne said plans are afoot to hold family programs in the Carter Center’s new rehearsal halls, the largest of which seats about 200 people. If those are successful, the orchestra then might move at least one of them to Vets.

The orchestra also plans to make its annual gala a permanent fixture, thus increasing the number of classical concerts to nine.

In recent years, the orchestra has presented violinist Itzhak Perlman, cellist Yo-Yo Ma and pianist André Watts at fundraisers.

Conductor Larry Rachleff has said he would like to see the orchestra expand its activities to 10 concerts a season.

“We’re really trying to find out what Rhode Islanders and Southern New Englanders need from us,” said Beauchesne. “But this is a long-term strategy.”