Gifts Prop Up Memphis Symphony, but Future Still Uncertain
March 19, 2014 | Read Time: 1 minute
The Memphis Symphony Orchestra will play through its current season, thanks to two $100,000 donations and a series of benefit concerts that have offset a $400,000 shortfall, according to the Memphis Business Journal. However, symphony president and CEO Roland Valliere said that the ensemble’s future has yet to be determined.
The symphony’s endowment, which totaled $4.5-million in 2005, was completely depleted by June 2011, and operating deficits totaled $8.34-million.
The Memphis group is among many orchestras with financial trouble. The Nashville Symphony Orchestra has struggled to make payments for construction of its $123-million performance center. The Honolulu Symphony shut down in 2010. Similarly, orchestras in such cities as Syracuse, Albuquerque, Minnesota, Salt Lake City, Louisville, Detroit, and Philadelphia have also faced financial issues.
