FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 24, 2026
Contact: Stacey Champion | sc@champion-pr.com | 602-788-0033
Phoenix Symphony Musicians Ask Board to Open Its Books and Work With Them to Keep Arizona’s Orchestra on Stage
Musicians learned of layoffs while sitting at the bargaining table; health insurance ends November 30; musicians call on the Board, the City of Phoenix, and the community to help
PHOENIX – The 66 musicians of The Phoenix Symphony learned on Tuesday, October 20 that they will be laid off on November 2. They found out while their representatives were sitting across the table from Symphony leadership, as a press release announcing the suspension of the season went out during that meeting. Musicians who were not in the room learned of it by email shortly afterward, and staff learned of it from the press release.
Just two weeks earlier, on October 6, the musicians met with the CEO and Board representatives to discuss the Symphony’s finances. The musicians offered to share in the sacrifice and to help raise money. No one mentioned that layoffs were being considered.
The musicians have already given much. Since the 2023–24 season they have played shortened 35-week seasons instead of the 38 weeks in their contract, and the orchestra has been held at 64 to 66 musicians rather than its contractual 76. Minimum salary this season is about $47,400. In announcing the suspension, the Symphony itself acknowledged “increased revenues, ticket sales, and philanthropic support.”
Now every musician has less than two weeks’ notice that their paychecks will stop. Their health insurance will end on November 30, just as the holidays begin. Four musicians moved to Phoenix this September to join the orchestra. The longest-serving musician has played with the Symphony for 50 years, and many others have served for a decade or more.
The musicians are asking the Board to answer basic questions:
• What changed in the weeks before the Board’s October 15 vote, when management was still discussing plans for the season with the musicians?
• What happened to the funds raised in the Symphony’s $60 million CRESCENDO campaign, and what reserves and endowment funds remain?
• What administrative cuts have been made, including to executive compensation? (The CEO’s reported compensation was $304,887 in the fiscal year ending June 2025, according to the Symphony’s federal tax filing.)
• What is the plan, and the timeline, for bringing the orchestra back?
The musicians have formally requested the Symphony’s financial records so that musicians and the public can understand what happened and how to fix it.
Further complicating the picture, the City of Phoenix just invested $7 million in modernizing Symphony Hall. When the City unveiled the improvements on October 1, it said: “We can’t wait to welcome you to Symphony Hall this season!” But the Board voted to suspend the season just two weeks later. A $7 million investment of taxpayer money should not be used to buy an empty stage.
The Phoenix Symphony is Arizona’s only full-time professional orchestra and the state’s largest performing arts organization. It brings thousands of people downtown, supports the restaurants and small businesses around Symphony Hall, and reaches students and families across the Valley.
“We love this orchestra, we love this community, and we want to keep playing for it,” said Bridget Pasker, Assistant Principal Cello and Orchestra Committee Co-Chair. “We are ready to work with the Board to find a way forward. But we need the facts, and we need them now.”
“We are asking our patrons and neighbors to stand with us,” Pasker added. “Tell the Board you want your orchestra back. And before you make your next gift, ask the Board the same questions we are asking.”