
The Nashville Symphony and Music Director Giancarlo Guerrero take a bow at Schermerhorn Symphony Center. Photo: Kurt Heineke
“The Nashville Symphony canceled all performances through its upcoming season and will halt virtual programming to ‘conserve its resources’ after losing more than a quarter of its yearly revenue to the COVID-19 pandemic shutdown,” writes Sandy Mazza in Friday’s (6/12) Tennessean. “The Schermerhorn Symphony Center will remain dark through July 31, 2021, unless the virus is contained well enough to fill seats. Furloughs will be issued to 128 employees, including conductors and 79 musicians, beginning July 1. But the organization will continue fundraising and looking for opportunities to play again…. Board Chair Mark Peacock said … ‘We’re not moth-balling and turning off the lights for a year.’… Officials anticipate an $8 million loss from the shutdown, leaving the organization several million dollars short for the year…. The Symphony received a federal Paycheck Protection Program loan to keep workers employed through this month, and it will continue to pay their health insurance. ‘The economics just don’t work to open with 25% or 50% capacity,’ [Symphony President and CEO Alan] Valentine said. ‘Our payroll is $1.2 million per month. We just don’t know when it’s going to be safe to put musicians on stage in close proximity … There are a lot of questions to answer.’ ”