2021 Orchestra Compensation Reports: Executives

Facebook LinkedIn Email Copy Print

When it comes to executive compensation, last year’s artificially low average change (-11.62%) was offset by an equally artificial increase (19.74%). Having said that, the two-season average falls right in line with historic norms to continue the upward trend.

The Information

In order to provide information that is as accurate as possible, info from the 2018/19 season is gathered from the following sources:

Executive compensation figures were obtained from their respective orchestra’s IRS Form 990 for the 2018/19 concert season.
Total Expenditures were also obtained from each respective orchestra’s IRS Form 990 for the 2018/19 concert season (due to their relationship within a larger performing arts structure, Total Expenditure figures for National Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, and Dayton Philharmonic are not as readily available).

Adaptistration makes no claim to the accuracy of information from documents compiled or reported by external sources. If you have reason to believe any of the information is inaccurate or has changed since reported in any of the above sources and you can provide documentation to such effect, please feel free to use this form to submit a notice.

Did you know? Direct links to most of the orchestra’s financial disclosure documents at guidestar.org are available in the Orchestra Financial Reports or you can save yourself dozens of hours by picking them up by season at the Adaptistration Store.

What The Numbers Don’t Show

It is important to remember that the numbers shown do not always convey a complete compensation picture. For example, an executive director may have had a large increase in salary due to a severance or deferred compensation package owed when the position was vacated. Additionally, the documents used to gather figures do not indicate how much of the season an individual received a salary. As such, the cumulative compensation may artificially inflate annual earnings.

Conversely, reported figures may not reflect bonuses or other incentive payments, therefore underreporting what executives may actually earn. As such, the cumulative compensation executives may differ from what is listed.

If you’re curious about exactly how much of a difference can exist, the Philadelphia Orchestra bankruptcy proceeding shed a sliver of light onto the river of unspecified compensation executives can garner by way of perks and benefits. Details were reported in an article published on 3/2/2012.

For additional details about any individual executive’s compensation in any given season, you should review the corresponding IRS Form 990 for any statements, notes, and/or addendums provided by the organization to explain compensation abnormalities.

2018/19 Season Executive Compensation

wdt_ID	ENSEMBLE	Total Expenditures	Executive Compensation	Difference	Percent Change
1	Alabama Symphony	$6,676,864	$123,000	NA	NA
2	Albany Symphony	$2,721,556	$116,466	NA	NA
3	Allentown Symphony	$3,243,100	NA	NA	NA
4	Atlanta Symphony*	$107,113,113	$380,289	$10,367	2.80%
5	Austin Symphony	$5,457,069	$174,715	$9,925	6.02%
6	Baltimore Symphony	$25,734,452	$332,951	$72,382	27.78%
7	Boston Symphony	$109,772,097	$1,040,949	($9,647)	-0.92%
8	Buffalo Philharmonic	$12,507,861	$229,469	($29,842)	-11.51%
9	Charlotte Symphony	$10,157,862	$254,785	$129,285	103.02%
10	Chattanooga Symphony	$2,580,262	$90,306	$0	0.00%
11	Chicago Symphony	$78,697,891	$564,516	$26,975	5.02%
12	Cincinnati Symphony	$33,288,825	$400,826	NA	NA
13	Cleveland Orchestra	$57,988,415	$952,523	$373,906	64.62%
14	Colorado Springs Philharmonic	Not Reported	Not Reported	NA	NA
15	Colorado Symphony	$14,407,985	$363,796	NA	NA
16	Columbus Symphony	$8,259,235	NA	NA	NA
17	Dallas Symphony	$33,947,391	$457,138	NA	NA
18	Dayton Philharmonic*	$7,705,334	$136,396	$3,302	2.48%
19	Detroit Symphony	$35,606,065	$467,857	$0	0.00%
20	Florida Orchestra	$11,229,576	$268,874	$51,677	23.79%
21	Fort Wayne Philharmonic	$5,932,830	$188,567	$114	0.06%
22	Fort Worth Symphony	$12,870,844	NA	NA	NA
23	Grand Rapids Symphony	$10,914,975	$109,808	$9,552	9.53%
24	Harrisburg Symphony	$2,880,404	$159,515	$159,515	NA
25	Hartford Symphony	$5,365,442	$124,306	$3,337	2.76%
26	Houston Symphony	$33,147,136	$335,264	NA	NA
27	Indianapolis Symphony	$32,118,817	NA	NA	NA
28	Jacksonville Symphony	$11,090,763	NA	NA	NA
29	Kalamazoo Symphony	$3,916,408	$184,202	$19,604	11.91%
30	Kansas City Symphony	$19,428,025	$320,099	$23,911	8.07%
31	Knoxville Symphony	$4,142,104	$128,116	($14,803)	-10.36%
32	Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra	$4,774,234	$198,887	$2,173	1.10%
33	Los Angeles Philharmonic	$166,254,625	$897,508	NA	NA
34	Louisville Orchestra	$7,454,129	NA	NA	NA
35	Memphis Symphony	$4,121,855	$109,809	($67,191)	-37.96%
36	Milwaukee Symphony	$17,889,830	$315,474	$23,445	8.03%
37	Minnesota Orchestra	$36,668,040	NA	NA	NA
38	Nashville Symphony	$27,421,525	$396,995	$13,700	3.57%
39	National Symphony*	NA	$475,846	NA	NA
40	New Jersey Symphony	$14,179,270	$235,511	$24,321	11.52%
41	New York Philharmonic	$79,928,470	$1,455,594	NA	NA
42	North Carolina Symphony	$16,315,140	$346,182	($9,336)	-2.63%
43	Oakland Symphony	$2,922,927	$80,865	NA	NA
44	Omaha Symphony	$8,748,123	NA	NA	NA
45	Orchestra Iowa	$2,650,599	$109,289	NA	NA
46	Oregon Symphony	$19,855,371	$384,422	$109,233	39.69%
47	Orlando Philharmonic	$4,244,779	NA	NA	NA
48	Pacific Symphony	$21,020,831	$354,735	$32,537	10.10%
49	Pasadena Symphony	$4,520,922	$175,000	$25,000	16.67%
50	Philadelphia Orchestra	$51,535,002	NA	NA	NA
51	Phoenix Symphony	$13,567,945	$431,449	$55,374	14.72%
52	Pittsburgh Symphony	$36,068,188	$437,343	$6,328	1.47%
53	Portland (ME) Symphony	$3,609,101	$111,950	$613	0.55%
54	Richmond Symphony	$6,514,706	$138,786	($1,977)	-1.40%
55	Rochester Philharmonic	$10,339,899	$219,970	NA	NA
56	Saint Louis Symphony	$29,391,582	$421,623	($5,553)	-1.30%
57	San Antonio Symphony	$8,114,690	NA	NA	NA
58	San Diego Symphony	$29,246,097	$429,513	$56,178	15.05%
59	San Francisco Symphony	$79,786,312	$968,107	NA	NA
60	Santa Rosa Symphony	$4,049,629	$220,536	$3,768	1.74%
61	Sarasota Orchestra	$10,877,073	$208,344	$10,663	5.39%
62	Seattle Symphony	$33,247,562	NA	NA	NA
63	Spokane Symphony	$5,477,114	$154,591	$10,307	7.14%
64	St. Paul Chamber Orchestra	$11,185,907	$307,661	$18,682	6.46%
65	Symphony Silicon Valley	$3,243,348	$150,000	$8,000	5.63%
66	Toledo Symphony	$6,362,845	$196,527	$5,551	2.91%
67	Tucson Symphony	$5,189,168	$119,666	$11,473	10.60%
68	Utah Symphony	$23,321,569	$405,552	($1,967)	-0.48%
69	Virginia Symphony	$6,497,094	$177,493	$10,580	6.34%
70	West Virginia Symphony	$2,708,531	$134,973	$1,429	1.07%
71	Averages	$22,473,628	$327,630	$26,884	8.63%

* Due to their relationship within a larger performing arts structure, Total Expenditure figures for these organizations are not as readily available.

The “Not Reporteds”

Typically, whenever an organization’s 990 is missing compensation figures for one or more stakeholder and the reason isn’t something easily verified, I reach out to inquire. In most cases, the organization promptly responds, confirms the oversight, and provides the information along with any corresponding clarification.

The 2017 reports tried something new: each article was published with notes indicating any unreported figures and the respective organization was contacted for the missing information afterward.

The goal was to provide a more realistic sense of how often information is missing and confirm an organization’s commitment to the spirit of compensation transparency. It turned out to be an enormously effective approach and will remain in play this year.

Once each group can provide requested information and provide the missing figures, the respective articles will be updated accordingly.

Missing information is labeled as “Not Reported” inside each respective report. Speaking of groups with “Not Reported” labels, the Colorado Springs Philharmonic Orchestra (CSPO) receives the dubious distinction of being the only orchestra to earn that designation. On one hand, it wasn’t surprising to see an uptick in the number of orchestras that didn’t have any 990 show up in the initial searches.

The pandemic has left the IRS short-staffed and over-worked and as a result, I had to reach out to five different groups to request a copy of their public inspection filing: Colorado Springs Philharmonic, Dayton Philharmonic, National Symphony, Rochester Philharmonic, and the Toledo Symphony. With the exception of the CSPO, each and every group responded quickly and provided the requested content. That’s exactly the sort of transparency that helps the field as a whole build a positive reputation. But it only takes one or two groups to tarnish an otherwise good rep.

Top 10 Earners

New York Philharmonic: $1,455,594
Boston Symphony: $1,040,949
San Francisco Symphony: $968,107
Cleveland Orchestra: $952,523
Los Angeles Philharmonic: $897,508
Chicago Symphony: $564,516
National Symphony: $475,846
Detroit Symphony: $467,857
Dallas Symphony: $457,138
Pittsburgh Symphony: $437,343

Items Of Note

The move from LA to New York didn’t seem to put a dent in Deborah Borda’s earning power. Her first full season at New York generated a $1,455,594 payout, which is just about $38k more than her last full season at LA ($1,417,633).
Cleveland saw a sizeable uptick in executive compensation, with their latest CEO drawing a few hundred thousand more than their predecessors.
The Top 10 figures are missing one usual suspect, the Philadelphia Orchestra, thanks to that group not having a CEO in place over the course of a full season.
There was a noticeable uptick in the number of orchestras reporting sizable payouts reported as deferred in on the prior year’s From 990. this is notable in that it provides a way for an organization to mask compensation that should otherwise be known during something like a labor dispute where employees are being asked to take similar reductions to executive cuts.