K-W Symphony is on life support, but it isn’t dead
We all thought the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony was dead, after it filed for bankruptcy in September of last year.
But a letter sent Tuesday night to hundreds of its supporters indicates it is still alive, although on life support.
The letter invites people who have made donations in the recent past, including those who bought subscriptions and tickets for concerts that never happened, to nominate members for a new symphony board of directors.
Signed by Rachel Smith-Spencer, board chair of the Kitchener Waterloo Symphony Orchestra Association, the letter also says that the deadline for nominations is May 13.
“What we have learned is that when bankruptcy is declared, it doesn’t necessarily mean the game is over,” said Barbara Hankins, president of the symphony’s players’ association.
It turns out that, although the entire board resigned back in September, one person had to stay on to guide the organization through bankruptcy proceedings. That was Smith-Spencer.
And it turned out that although the symphony owed $916,000 to creditors and had just $273,620 in assets when it filed for bankruptcy, everything seems to have stopped right there.
The representative from bankruptcy trustee BDO Canada was not available for comment by my deadline.
The players didn’t receive severance pay when they suddenly lost their jobs right before the season was to begin. But they did qualify for a federal program, the Wage Earner Protection Program, which pays outstanding eligible wages, severance and vacation pay to workers at an employer facing bankruptcy.
The assets — mostly office furniture, a music library and some instruments — were not liquidated; they’re being stored.
Creditors of the organization have not yet been presented with a proposal to accept so many cents on the dollar. A proposal that, if accepted, would allow the symphony to continue as the same organization.
Those last four words are crucial to the future health of the organization.
Right now, the 78-year-old symphony organization has a track record of success in winning grants from agencies like the Canada Council for the Arts and Ontario Arts Council. These grants are key for financial sustainability. If the symphony were forced to start
from scratch as a brand-new organization, it would lose that track record and it would be much harder to rebuild these sources of revenue.
“By retaining the name, charitable status, and government granting opportunities of the Association, the organization stands a better chance of surviving and thriving than starting fresh with a new organization,” says a written update from the players’ association that’s included with the letter.
“An initial draft of a Proposal is being drawn up but the Proposal needs to be formally filed by the Association and therefore, the Association must have a board of directors in place.”
The goal here, with the support of the players’ association, is to build a new board of directors, present a proposal to creditors, and start planning for the future.
“As the Musicians of the KWS, we are hopeful that this process can be successful so that we can again see you in a concert hall in the near future,” the update continues.
The letter closes with an invitation to attend a concert May 11, which will feature “our musicians performing as a full orchestra for the first time since last season.
“We hope that we will see you there as we continue to do what we love to do — bring music to this wonderful community.”
And the update closes with the website to go to for tickets. It’s www.savethekws.ca
Taking all this information in, as a supporter of the symphony myself, I feel a range of emotions.
Admiration for the courage, hard work and persistence of the musicians of the symphony who have stayed here, performed here, taught young musicians here, and who have been working so hard to bring the orchestra back to life.
At the same time I am bewildered on behalf of the symphony’s supporters — many of whom grieved the loss of the organization, and wondered why they hadn’t been given a chance to assist before what seemed like a too-swift decision to close down. This news, too, seems to be coming out of the blue.
But mostly, I’m overjoyed that there’s a path, however steep and uncertain, back to the music that so many of us miss so much.
Just tell us what we can do to help. We’ll be there.