Breaking News | Kitchener Waterloo Symphony Orchestra Cancels 23/24 Season

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Sept. 18, 2023 – The Kitchener Waterloo Symphony Orchestra, Ontario’s third largest orchestra, announced this morning that the organization has canceled “scheduled concerts and all other activities for the 2023/24 season,” effective immediately. This shocking news comes days before the season was supposed to begin, and just two days before its 54 musicians were set to come back to work. With the KWSO being the largest employer of artists and cultural workers in the region, the implications of this decision are significant.

The KWSO has cited financial challenges as the reason for this abrupt cancellation. According to its CRA charity filing, the organization shows an accumulated debt of $352,720, having incurred a loss of $171,506 on expenditures of $5,088,251 in the 2021-22 season.

This is not the first time in recent years that the orchestra has found itself in financial trouble – in 2006, they avoided declaring bankruptcy with their “Save our Symphony” campaign, and as recently as January of 2023, appealed to the Waterloo Region council for a special one-time $100,000 grant, to help them recover in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Orchestra members received word of the decision last night at 8:30pm, with an email sent by the board of directors. “We will share more information as soon as possible,” it said. “We recognize how challenging this situation will be for all those involved,” it added, in reference to the large pool of orchestral musicians – among others – now left without employment for the season.

In the public announcement that has since followed on their social media, the orchestra promises that they are “working hard to contact ticket holders in the coming days regarding next steps.” With that being said, the organization made it clear to patrons in their email communication last night that all ticket purchases were non-refundable. Those who have already purchased tickets for previously scheduled concerts will receive tax receipts.

Musicians and lovers of the arts from near and far are mourning the seeming loss of this long-standing organization, a pillar of the Kitchener-Waterloo community since 1945. Along with the cancellation of regular season concerts (all of which have now been removed from the KWSO’s website), this news informed the community of the cancellation of their Bridge to Music and KW Youth Orchestra programmes, which were also set to begin this week.