Wednesday January 29, 2025
Minnesota Orchestra Shares Artistic Highlights and Operating Results for 2023-24 Season
The 2023-24 season introduced Thomas Søndergård as music director; featured debuts from artists ranging from pianist Yuja Wang to rapper Nur-D; marked the conclusion of the Orchestra’s multi-year recording cycle of Mahler symphonies; and introduced a new offering for Minnesota music educators
Despite posting an operating loss, Orchestra achieved its highest-ever earned revenue and annual fund totals
The Minnesota Orchestra released its operating results today for fiscal year 2024, a celebratory season running from September 2023 to August 2024 in which the Orchestra introduced Danish conductor Thomas Søndergård as the organization’s 11th music director; featured debut performances with wide-ranging artists from pianist Yuja Wang and saxophone player Steven Banks to hip-hop star Nur-D; completed its recording cycle of the ten Mahler symphonies; and offered its first-ever side-by-side experience with music educators from across the state.
Total revenues for the year amounted to $38.7 million, with total operating expenses of $42.6 million, resulting in an operating loss of $3.8M, according to audited results. Despite posting a deficit, the organization reached some significant revenue milestones, achieving its highest-ever levels of annual fund donations ($10M) and earned revenue ($11.6M), with the latter increasing year-over-year by 22%.
“The most gratifying part of the 2023-24 season was seeing the way that audiences and supporters turned out to welcome Thomas Søndergård as our new music director,” said Board Chair Nancy E. Lindahl. “Nearly 11,000 concertgoers showed up at Orchestra Hall for Thomas’ first two weeks of concerts as music director—and that momentum sustained throughout the entire season. The dynamic connection between music director, Orchestra and community is at the very center of the Minnesota Orchestra experience, and a strong foundation has been laid for this new partnership.”
Said Interim President and CEO Brent Assink, “Our financial results tell the story of an organization that is still climbing back from the pandemic and also achieving key mileposts. For the first time since 2020 our contributed revenue totals did not include any support from pandemic-era grants like the Paycheck Protection Program, and, though our fundraising totals were high, we were not able to make up those PPP funds and ended with a deficit. On the bright side, the Orchestra saw more contributions to its annual fund than ever before, partly due to the tremendous generosity of our Board of Directors, and it achieved record levels of earned revenue too.”
The Board of Directors met on January 21, 2025, to approve the organization’s fiscal 2024 audited financials, but no elections were held for new Board members. Going forward, Minnesota Orchestra Board elections will take place each July, with new Board members beginning their service in September, as part of an initiative to align Board tenures with the organization’s fiscal year and performance schedule.
Artistic Report
The Orchestra offered 143 ticketed and free concerts and events during the 2023-24 season for in-person audiences; four of those performances were also offered as part of the This Is Minnesota Orchestra series for TV, radio and online streaming audiences. Milestones of the season included:
• Thomas Søndergård making his debut as the Minnesota Orchestra’s music director, becoming just the 11th artistic leader in the Orchestra’s history. Over two weeks and six programs, Søndergård set in motion a new partnership and era of music-making, conducting works by Auberbach, Barber, Debussy, Ravel, Strauss and Mozart—with the latter featuring Principal Oboe Nathan Hughes. The City of Minneapolis extended a warm welcome to Søndergård by lighting the skyline and local bridges red and white in tribute to the colors of his native Denmark’s flag.
• The Minnesota premiere of composer Billy Child’s Diaspora, a new saxophone concerto based on the poetry of three Black poets chronicling Black life in America. Conducted by Ruth Reinhardt, the work featured saxophone virtuoso Steven Banks in his Minnesota Orchestra debut.
• Additional debuting artists including superstar pianist Yuja Wang in performances of the Bartók Piano Concerto No. 2; 2021 Avery Fisher Career Grant recipient Sterling Elliott for performances of Tchaikovsky’s Variations on a Rococo Theme; pianist Bertrand Chamayou interpreting Saint-Saëns’ Piano Concerto No. 5; and trumpeter Pacho Flores playing works by Sarasate and Márquez.
• The organization’s first Educator Side-by-Side experience, in which 54 music educators from 37 cities around the state joined Thomas Søndergård and the Minnesota Orchestra onstage for two rehearsals and two concerts. The program was designed to shine a spotlight on the work of music educators and to help them advocate for the importance of state-wide music programs in the schools.
• The release of Mahler’s Third and Eighth Symphonies on the BIS Records label, the final albums issued in the Orchestra’s multi-year initiative to record all ten Mahler symphonies. Led by Conductor Laureate Osmo Vänskä, the Eighth Symphony, or Symphony of a Thousand, was issued in December 2023 and described by MusicWeb International as “flawless from a technical point of view but also infused with that elusive ‘spiritual’ quality.” The Third Symphony was issued in June 2024 to equal critical acclaim, with The Guardian praising “the grandeur and beauty in Vänskä’s sober approach.”
• Young People’s Concerts welcoming 28,242 students from 240 schools across the state to experience classical music at Orchestra Hall. The Orchestra’s Relaxed Family Concerts and Sensory-Friendly programs reached thousands more young people and their parents, including at a January 2024 family concert that was conducted by Music Director Thomas Søndergård. An additional 7,800 young people attended concerts for free alongside the adults in their lives, as part of the “Hall Pass” program.
• Four This Is Minnesota Orchestra concerts that were broadcast on Twin Cities PBS (TPT 2) and streamed on the Orchestra’s own channels. An average of 6,000 viewers watched each of the live broadcasts on TPT. In February 2024, the Orchestra released Music & Healing, a first-of-its-kind concert broadcast and digital initiative exploring the intersection of music and well-being. Led by Principal Conductor of Live at Orchestra Hall Sarah Hicks, the full collection is available for free on the Orchestra’s YouTube channel.
• A new collaboration with singer and rapper Nur-D, who delivered electric energy and joyful anthems to capacity crowds in his debut performances with the Orchestra, conducted by Sarah Hicks.
• A fresh Summer at Orchestra Hall season that brought audiences downtown to explore music of the 1920s and to launch the celebration of Orchestra Hall’s 50th anniversary, all curated by pianist and Creative Partner Jon Kimura Parker.
On the administrative front, President and CEO Michelle Miller Burns departed the Orchestra to lead the Dallas Symphony. In September, the Orchestra announced that Brent Assink—respected former executive director of the San Francisco Symphony for 18 years—would join the Minnesota Orchestra as Interim President and CEO while a search for a permanent successor is underway.
“The 2023-2024 season was an incredibly busy and exciting one for the organization, as it marked Thomas Søndergård's first full season as music director. It's been wonderful to witness the warmth of his growing relationship with the musicians, board, staff, and audiences,” said violinist Emily Switzer, who serves as chair of the Minnesota Orchestra Members Committee. “Musicians are appreciative to have been part of such an artistically eventful year—from artist debuts to our first Music Educator Side-by-Side experience to digital and televised concerts for audiences across the state. None of these endeavors would be possible without the support of our Board and staff, whose tireless efforts make all that the musicians do possible.”
Financial Report
Total revenues for the year amounted to $38.7 million, with total operating expenses of $42.6 million, resulting in an operating loss of $3.8 million. Total net assets ended the year at $185.5 million, virtually flat with the previous year’s $186 million.
Total contributions—comprising annual fund donations, major gifts, Symphony Ball gifts and trust distributions—reached $25.8 million in Fiscal 2024, compared to $32.6 million in the previous year. The decrease from the prior year was primarily due to the loss of federal Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) support. Fiscal 2024 marks the first year since 2020 when the Orchestra’s contributed revenue totals have not included PPP or Shuttered Venue Operators Grant (SVOG) funding. However, in a strong showing of renewable support, contributions to the Orchestra’s annual fund reached an all-time high of $10 million, driven by high levels of Board giving.
“The Minnesota Orchestra is extremely fortunate to be served by such an impassioned, generous Board of Directors,” said Assink. “Under the leadership of Nancy Lindahl—who is uniquely talented in bringing people together—the Board has supported the Orchestra’s annual fund at record levels. We are tremendously grateful for the support of our philanthropic and ticket-buying communities. Their dedication to the Minnesota Orchestra is impressive.”
Total earned revenue—including revenue from ticket sales, fees, rental opportunities, and food, beverage and concession sales—reached an all-time high of $11.6 million in fiscal 2024, an increase of 22% from the previous year that was driven by strong ticket sales and outstanding rental activity. Orchestra Hall was filled to 75% paid capacity and 83% total capacity (including free and underwritten tickets), compared to 72% and 82%, respectively, in the prior season. Despite this steady progress back to pre-pandemic sales levels, total ticket sales capacities still lagged pre-pandemic levels by -9%.
Nearly 250,000 guests attended in-person Minnesota Orchestra concerts and an additional 168,810 watched digitally and on TV for a total audience of nearly 400,000.
Despite inflationary pressures, total expenses were $42.6 million in fiscal 2024, only a slight increase over the previous year’s $42.4 million, with the organization largely able to offset year-over-year cost increases with expense reductions.
“Going forward. we will continue to follow our financial plan in controlling costs and advancing our work in increasing and diversifying revenue streams,” said Assink. “And we will build on the momentum of Thomas Søndergård’s arrival as we continue to build connections with music lovers across Minnesota and beyond.”
PRESS CONTACTS
Gwen Pappas, Vice President of Communications and Public Relations
gpappas@mnorch.org
Alexandra Robinson, Content and Communications Manager
arobinson@mnorch.org