What happens next for the people the K-W Symphony owes money to?

Around three weeks after the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony filed for bankruptcy, its creditors met inside the Conrad Centre for the Performing Arts in Kitchener to hear about what to expect going forward.

BDO Canada, who has been appointed the trustee of the organization’s estate, organized the Thursday meeting. Symphony musicians and ticket holders were in attendance, and at times, things got emotional.

“[There was a] sense almost of betrayal on behalf of a lot of people in the audience, including the musicians,” subscriber Bill Poole said. “People feeling they were never asked to help.”

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Many at the meeting questioned why they weren’t told earlier about the symphony’s financial issues.

Over the weekend of Sept. 16, the symphony abruptly cancelled its upcoming 2023/24 season just days before it was supposed to start, blindsiding musicians and patrons.

On Sept. 19, it announced it needed to secure $2 million by the end of that week to avoid insolvency.

Despite last-ditch fundraising efforts, the organization formally filed for bankruptcy on Sept. 22.

Around 66 musicians and staff were left without a job.

“My best wishes to all the musicians and my thanks for what they’ve given us. I sure wish it could have been different,” Poole said.

WHY DID THE SYMPHONY DECLARE BANKRUPTCY?

The chair of the symphony’s board of directors Rachel Smith-Spencer declined an interview but told the crowd at Thursday’s meeting the organization faced two major problems.

The first was poor cash flow from ticket sales. According to Smith-Spencer, before the pandemic the symphony had about 8,000 subscribers, but that dropped to around 2,000 by the time COVID-19 restrictions were lifted.

“I know it’s very tempting to find the person to blame, but there is no person to blame,” she said.

Smith-Spencer said the symphony had asked for $800,000 from the federal government and had MPs preparing a report to try to help.

“We asked for a decision by the end of August so we would know in advance of the season starting again what the outcome was, and we did not hear a response from the federal government,” she said.

Smith-Spencer said it wasn’t until they decided to cancel the season that they heard no money was coming.

A meeting for K-W Symphony creditors is held at the Conrad Centre for the Performing Arts in Kitchener on Oct. 12, 2023. (Colton Wiens/CTV Kitchener)

The symphony was operating in a deficit the past two years and expected things to only get worse.

When the symphony pulled the plug on its season, it told ticket holders they would receive donation tax receipts but not refunds for the value of their tickets.

On Thursday, Mike Braga with BDO Canada said aside from the tax receipts, its unlikely ticket holders will be able to get their money back.

“We don’t believe that there is going to be any funds available for any of the unsecured creditors from this bankruptcy,” Braga said.

BDO Canada said the symphony’s two assets – instruments and a music library – are not worth much.

Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony music director Andrei Feher said with the loss of the Hamilton and London symphonies, it paints a dark image of the importance placed on arts and culture in the province.

The loss of the local symphony will also have a ripple effect on the youth orchestra and all the musician’s families, Feher said.

“It’s not a business, it’s a cultural institution. That’s why it’s very hard to accept this can actually happen,” Feher said.

BDO Canada said it should take about a year for the bankruptcy process to be worked out.