A Surplus of Hope—Why Orchestras Are (Cautiously) Feeling Confident Again

By Laurence Vittes | From the March/April 2026 issue of Strings

As the country’s orchestras continue to emerge from the shadow of Covid, recent announcements of fiscal health by a range of North American orchestras—and the Arts & Culture Benchmark report from the League of American Orchestras in collaboration with TRG Arts—indicate that recovery definitely seems to be happening, despite serious challenges for a few orchestras in the top 20. This is an industry in which surpluses are not even an aspirational goal, and yet the Pittsburgh Symphony ran a surplus of $2.3 million. At a time when cultural philanthropy has come under fire, two orchestras in Florida received more than $25 million in private donations.

In fact, based on data from 48 medium- and larger-budget League of American Orchestras member ensembles during the 2024–25 season, orchestras are continuing to outperform the wider performing arts sector and attract new ticket buyers, especially among millennials. With the caveat that there’s a huge divergence of financial outlooks across the field, the signs are still encouraging.

Charlotte Lee, president and founder of Primo Artists, who works closely with orchestras, presenters, and artists across the United States and internationally, feels that “something is genuinely shifting. We’re now five years past the onset of Covid, and the aftershocks lingered far longer than any of us expected—especially in how audiences used their discretionary income and how willing they were to gather in public spaces. For several seasons, people simply weren’t ready.”

What encourages Lee most is that people “aren’t just showing up again: They’re supporting the institutions that create these experiences. They’re attending galas, they’re giving, and they’re recognizing that orchestras aren’t only cultural cornerstones—they are civic ones. They bring people together, enrich the fabric of their cities, and contribute to local economies and community identity. And I think donors now cherish that in a way they perhaps didn’t before the pandemic.

“Part of this is emotional. Covid made us all realize that listening to a recording at home, no matter how pristine, is not the same as being in a hall with other human beings, feeling something together. We learned the hard way how essential community is. In a concert hall, even when you don’t know the person next to you, you are sharing an experience that reminds you you’re alive. Audiences have missed that—and performers have missed it even more.”

Lee thinks the financial picture is improving “not uniformly, and not without challenges, but the renewed appetite for communal artistic experiences is real. Coming out of a period defined by isolation, people are choosing to reinvest in the places that make them feel connected again. That, to me, is the most hopeful sign we’ve had in years.”

In Lee’s view, it marks “a meaningful return of confidence. People are coming back to the concert hall. Subscriptions are being renewed. Attendance patterns have changed—many people decide at the last minute—but the desire to be there has returned. And just as importantly, donations are beginning to resemble pre-pandemic behavior. There is a quiet but noticeable restoration happening.”

However, the League of American Orchestras’ CEO Simon Woods cautions against drawing too many conclusions from the data. “Yes, there are orchestras who are doing quite well, but there are also many challenges across the field, in orchestras small and large. Of course, it’s exciting to look at successful orchestras as case studies; we’re just careful not to generalize too much.”

And it is really a case-by-case picture. Former Boston and Detroit symphonies CEO Mark Volpe says that “some orchestras are doing well—Pittsburgh had a strong year with multiple revenue streams, Cincinnati looks solid with Riverbend [Music Center] and the new Farmer Music Center, scheduled to open in 2027, and Los Angeles benefits from the [Hollywood] Bowl. Cleveland and Chicago are roughly break-even, but others are under real strain. The fundamental challenge is that the big, 52-week orchestras carry enormous fixed costs—around 70 percent of expenses are people—unlike smaller orchestras and opera companies that can scale productions up or down. Pandemic relief grants helped stabilize everyone in the short term, but in some cities, audiences haven’t fully returned, leaving a highly uneven landscape where some organizations thrive and others struggle to stay afloat.”

While the surplus at the Pittsburgh Symphony turned out to be driven by one-time fundraising initiatives, the symphony also noted record sales and reached more than 37,000 households. A more modest surplus of $19,000 was reported by the Cleveland Orchestra, whose president and CEO André Gremillet credited an improvement in the net margin of activities using orchestra services, an increase in earned revenues from Blossom Music Center rentals and operations, an increase in the annual endowment draw supported by investment gains and new cash contributions, and improvements to special fundraising initiatives to sustaining the balanced budget.

On Florida’s two coasts, anonymous donors made balancing the budget a whole lot easier for two of the state’s three largest orchestras. At the Jacksonville Symphony, $15 million will impact stability, growth, and a commitment to inclusive programming, artistic excellence, music education, and community outreach that CEO Steven Libman credits for making the symphony “feel like a part of life in Northeast Florida, not just a concert hall experience. There’s a real energy right now, and what we produce must be impactful and transformational. Orchestras aren’t just seen as heritage institutions anymore; they’re creative cultural voices in their communities. Digital and social platforms are helping us connect with new, younger audiences and to show people that an orchestra can be collaborative, exciting, and relevant.”

Across the state in St. Petersburg, the Florida Orchestra scored the largest single donation in its 58-year history with a $10 million gift. President and CEO Ignacio Barrón Viela says, “The donor’s immense generosity amplifies a powerful message of confidence and trust in the impact we have on lives every day throughout Tampa Bay. We invite everyone to be part of this meaningful journey. Every gift, every concert ticket, every moment of support helps TFO grow and serve our community in the way that it deserves—in the concert hall, classroom, and beyond.” The gift is intended to help grow the nonprofit orchestra’s endowment and provide year-over-year support.

Sound investments can also yield lasting stability. When Mark Volpe became CEO of the Detroit Symphony in 1990, he committed the organization to urban renewal, to building a performing arts high school for urban youth. “We basically took a neighborhood that was surrounded by a crack corridor and built out 18 acres, which we bought for the tax liability, at $250,000. We bought a building on an eighth of an acre for $6 million. It’s now worth about $25 to $30 million. We built an office building for Detroit Medical Center. We built a couple restaurants.” The symphony reported a $330,000 surplus for the fiscal year 2023.