Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony Files for Bankruptcy, Board of Directors Resigns

In Friday’s (9/22) Waterloo Region Record (Canada), Brent Davis reports, “The embattled Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony has filed for bankruptcy, and its board of directors has resigned. The Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony Orchestra Association made the bankruptcy announcement in a release issued late Thursday afternoon…. Board chair Rachel Smith-Spencer said … ‘We have appealed to all of our major stakeholders and have exhausted all available avenues to secure the $2M required immediately to continue operations.’ That release was followed by an update that said the association’s board of directors had resigned. ‘This means that the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony will cease all operations as of today, and will not return for any future seasons,’ the update read…. ‘This is not the outcome anyone wanted to see after 78 glorious seasons of music.’ The moves come on the heels of the sudden cancellation of the 2023-2024 season just days before it was set to begin this week … In an open letter to Region of Waterloo Chair Karen Redman this week, former music director Edwin Outwater and former executive director Genevieve Twomey urged her to ‘rebuild’ … The release also noted that the K-W Symphony Foundation, described as ‘an independent body responsible for managing the long-term investments that have been donated over many years to support classical music in our area,’ continues to operate.”