Nashville Symphony says it lacks cash to sustain current operations

The orchestra is preparing a restructuring plan after reporting successive operating deficits and two rounds of staff cuts.

The Nashville Symphony has said it does not have enough cash to continue operating at its current level and is developing a restructuring plan aimed at stabilising its finances.

“The organization does not have sufficient cash on hand to sustain operations at its current level,” the orchestra said in a statement reported by Nashville media.

The statement, co-signed by President and CEO J. Mark Cantrell and Board Chair Teresa Sebastian, said the Symphony’s executive committee was developing a restructuring plan intended to put the organisation on a “stronger, more sustainable financial footing.”

Further details of the plan are expected to be announced in the near future.

Successive deficits

The warning follows several years of financial pressure.

According to the Nashville Symphony Association’s latest US tax filing, the organisation reported revenue of approximately $28.1 million and expenses of $30.35 million for the fiscal year ending in July 2025, resulting in a deficit of about $2.26 million.

That followed a deficit of approximately $626,000 in the previous fiscal year. In 2023, the organisation reported a deficit of more than $7.1 million.

The Symphony has also carried out two rounds of staff reductions. In July 2024, it eliminated ten positions, including four vice presidents, while another eight employees were laid off in April 2025. The orchestra said at the time that inflation, changing consumer behaviour and broader economic uncertainty were contributing to its financial difficulties.

The organisation has said that ticket sales, fundraising and income from building rentals had not fully returned to pre-pandemic levels while costs had risen. The Covid-19 pandemic resulted in more than $10 million in lost revenue, according to reports cited by Nashville media.

A history of financial pressure

The current difficulties come after previous financial crises at the orchestra.

The Schermerhorn Symphony Center, which opened in 2006, suffered around $40 million in damage during severe flooding in Nashville in 2010. Three years later, the Symphony faced the prospect of foreclosure on the hall before philanthropist Martha Ingram intervened through her company Symplace Realty, which assumed a $20 million mortgage on the property.

The mortgage has subsequently been restructured several times. In May 2026, the Symphony and Symplace agreed to extend its maturity by five years, with the debt now due to be retired in July 2035.

Ingram, one of the orchestra’s most important longtime supporters and a former chair of its board, died in August at the age of 90.

The financial restructuring will be among the first major challenges facing Cantrell, who took over as president and CEO on 1 August, succeeding Alan D. Valentine after his 28-year tenure.

Cantrell previously led the Colorado Symphony and has also served as CEO of The Florida Orchestra and Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra. When announcing his appointment in July, the Nashville Symphony highlighted his experience in financial management, fundraising and organisational turnarounds.