The Cleveland Orchestra Reports Sixth Consecutive Balanced Budget, Highlights Season Successes

The Cleveland Orchestra has released its 2023-24 fiscal year operating results, reporting a balanced operating budget for the sixth consecutive year with a small surplus of $6,000. The operating results span July 1, 2023, to June 30, 2024.  

Over this period, the Orchestra's endowment increased by $29 million (10.8 %) to $296 million, driven by investment returns and new endowment contributions. 

Both total revenues and total expenses stood at $66 million in 2023-24, a 7.7% increase from the $61.3 million operating budget in 2022-23. 

Operating revenues such as ticket sales, concert fees, and venue rentals accounted for $23.6 million (36% of total revenues). 

Annual fundraising, including the annual fund, programmatic fundraising, and institutional support, contributed $17.5 million (27% of total revenues) while other fundraising and government support accounted for $12.3 million (18% of total revenues). The endowment draw stood at $12.4 million (19% of total revenues). 

On the expenses side, fixed expenses, including musician and staff wages and fringe benefits, amounted to $42.6 million (64% of total expenses), with operating and fundraising expenses amounting to $19.1 million (29% of total expenses) and $4.3 million (7% of total expenses) respectively. 

2023-24 Season Highlights 

The 2023-24 season marked The Cleveland Orchestra's 106th year since its founding in 1918, as well as the 22nd season of its acclaimed partnership with Music Director Franz Welser-Möst. 

Key season highlights include: 

- The return to pre-pandemic attendance numbers, with 254,000 audience members attending 106 Cleveland Orchestra performances at Blossom Music Center and Severance Music Center (24% of which were sold-out concerts). 

- The second edition of the Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Opera and Humanities Festival anchored by four fully staged, sold-out performances of Mozart's The Magic Flute, directed by Nikolaus Habjan. The festival featured, among others, events with Leila Josefowicz, Kai Bird, Terence Blanchard, Terrence McKnight, and Conrad Tao. 

- The celebration of 100 years of Cleveland Orchestra recordings and the release of four new recordings conducted by Music Director Franz Welser-Möst on the Orchestra's own label: Schubert's Mass No. 6, Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 4, Prokofiev's Symphony No. 6, and Bartók's Suite from The Miraculous Mandarin and String Quartet No. 3, arranged for string orchestra by Assistant Principal Viola Stanley Konopka. 

-The launch of new digital partnerships with Apple Music Classical and Deutsche Grammophon's Stage+, as well as a growing library of digital productions and livestreams on Adella, the Orchestra's digital home, including the first live broadcast in recent years from Vienna. 

- The Orchestra's annual return to Carnegie Hall with two evenings of performances featuring works by Krenek, Mahler, Bartók, Prokofiev, and Webern.  

- The second edition of the Orchestra's recital series, featuring performances by pianists Marc-André Hamelin, Emanuel Ax, and Evgeny Kissin; violinist Leonidas Kavakos, cellist Yo-Yo Ma, and baritone Matthias Goerne. 

- Four free collaborative chamber music concerts curated by The Cleveland Orchestra's Daniel R. Lewis Composer Fellow Allison Loggins-Hull with community artistic partners H.K. School of Bandura, the Fatima Family Center, and Karamu House.  

- The world premieres of Johannes Maria Staud's Whereas the reality trembles performed by percussionist Christoph Sietzen and the fully orchestrated version of Oded Zehavi's Aurora with Cleveland Orchestra Principal Piccolo Mary Kay Fink as featured soloist. Both works were commissioned by The Cleveland Orchestra.  

- Three weeks of performances in South Florida, highlighting the Orchestra's accelerating momentum in rebuilding its Miami residency post-pandemic.  

- The return in full force of The Cleveland Orchestra Chorus in performances of Amadeus Live, Sir George Benjamin's Dream of the Song, Walton's Belshazzar's Feast, Mozart's The Magic Flute, and The Cleveland Orchestra's annual holiday concerts. 

- The Orchestra's first-ever sensory-friendly concerts in collaboration with the Cuyahoga County Board of Developmental Disabilities to create a more inclusive atmosphere for individuals with autism spectrum disorder. The launch of the

- Hispanic Heritage Month Concert, featuring local Latin jazz group Sammy DeLeon y su Orquesta, which had guests dancing in the aisles at Severance Music Center.  

- The first-ever cultural exchange between the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra and the Toronto Symphony Youth Orchestra bringing together 200+ high school musicians over two weekends, in two countries, united by their passion for orchestral music.  

- The historic collaboration with the Great Lakes Science Center and NASA to present “Out of This World,” a family concert celebrating the Great North American Eclipse performed both at Severance and at the Science Center. 

- The launch of the Orchestra's Arts Administration Internship — funded by The Gund Foundation — which provides immersive opportunities for talented emerging arts professionals of color. 

- A $4.6 million gift from longtime patrons and donors Myrna and Jim Spira in support of artistic programming, the pension fund, and the annual fund, and the naming of the viola chair held by Eliesha Nelson through a generous endowment gift by Anthony and Diane Wynshaw-Boris.

New Trustees

The Cleveland Orchestra is pleased to welcome two distinguished individuals, Arthur C. Hall III and Tony White, to its Board of Trustees. Elected to three-year terms as members of the Class of 2027, they bring a wealth of expertise and visionary leadership to further strengthen the Orchestra's mission and board. 

Arthur C. Hall III is the firm administrative partner and partner-in-charge of the Cleveland office of Calfee, Halter and Griswold LLP, where he started in 1996.  Hall was named to Cleveland Magazine's 500 list, recognizing successful leaders in Northeast Ohio, in 2021 and 2022. He also serves on the board of Great Lakes Theater, Business Volunteers Unlimited, and Cleveland Leadership Center and is a former board member for The City Mission. 

Tony White is the managing partner and Chief Executive Officer at Thompson Hine. Throughout his career, he's been honored as one of the country's top lawyers by leading organizations in the field. White currently sits on the board for The Greater Cleveland Partnership, and is a former board member for United Way of Central Ohio, The Ohio State University Hospital, and the Big Ten Conference Advisory Commission.  

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