Nashville's symphony orchestra needed saving when Big Tech stepped in

The musicians of the Nashville Symphony received a standing ovation before they even took the stage for their first concert of the season this fall. That’s because a few weeks earlier, symphony management had announced their indefinite furlough and suspension of the concert season.

“It’s infuriating, and it’s actually humiliating,” bassist and orchestra committee chair Joel Reist told WPLN News.

The symphony hall was close to going silent, and musicians were worried about making their mortgage payments and putting food on the table.

Classical music has reached full financial crisis mode in recent weeks for some cities. At the beginning of November, the Phoenix Symphony furloughed all of its musicians after years of budget deficits. There’s been a string of financial and operational setbacks for the nation’s premier classical music organizations — from the Metropolitan Opera to the National Symphony Orchestra.

In the case of Nashville, Big Tech saved the day while also buying a little goodwill.

Oracle, which is relocating its headquarters to Tennessee, covered the budget gap, writing a $10 million check that it called a “strategic partnership.” Oracle did not agree to an interview about what that partnership will look like.

“In the short term, it gets us through the season,” maestro Leonard Slatkin told “This is Nashville.” Nashville was to be Slatkin’s swan song after leading orchestras in St. Louis, Detroit, and Washington, D.C., but Music City may become his magnum opus if he finds an artistic path to financial sustainability.

The seasoned conductor knows the emergency gift still requires tough decisions.

“This helps us to buy some time,” he said, “to make sure whatever it is that didn’t work in the past is solved and move forward with a true restructuring plan.”

The big question looming for Nashville’s orchestra is whether it can afford its grand concert hall. Upkeep and management of a stone building the size of a city block is costly, and its prime location has also proven problematic.

The Schermerhorn Symphony Center was built 20 years ago in an area that badly needed revitalization. Now, it’s in the center of a tourist hotspot, which is not so hot for local patrons.

“It’s a great place to see a concert. There’s just a ton of friction to get there,” said Colleen Wheelahan, host of Symphony Hall on SiriusXM who writes about classical music on Substack.

Concertgoers, including Wheelahan, have been stuck for hours trying to leave the parking garage. But parking is merely a convenient scapegoat, she said. The building itself has been holding back the symphony.

As far back as 2013, key donor Martha Ingram had to step in to assume a $20 million mortgage and avoid foreclosure. Upon the billionaire’s death in August, it came to light through annual audits that the symphony has been unable to pay the interest.

Living in the red has kept the symphony from being able to think about the future and build up its endowment.

“I think this is all the same crisis,” Wheelahan said. “That endowment is not where it should be yet. And it can get there.”

The endowments of comparable orchestras, such as Kansas City and St. Louis, dwarf Nashville’s by 10 times.

As for the patrons, the very real threat of extinction has sparked self-reflection. Kari Brown raised her kids going to concerts; one even played violin in college. But her own patronage slipped a bit to only one concert a year.

“I love the symphony,” Brown said. “So this is really challenging me to step up and make sure they feel my support.”

Even if crowds perk up, ticket sales don’t cover the costs in classical music. For many orchestras feeling the pinch in this moment, they’re faced with making fundamental changes — cutting recordings, moving musicians to part-time, even selling assets.

Former Nashville Symphony board member Jim White said it’s too late to simply double down on ticket sales and fundraising, adding that the sooner leaders figure out how to cut costs, the better it will be for saving our symphonies.

“Music is a beautiful art form and a cruel business,” White said. “While the decisions shouldn’t be cruel in their impact, they are going to require some difficult choices.”