For the second year in a row, the Minnesota Orchestra posted an operating loss in the millions in its fiscal year 2025, the organization announced Tuesday.
The orchestra has total net assets of $187 million and no debt. Revenues totaled $38.1 million and operating expenses were $42.3 million resulting in a $4.2 million operating loss. Last year, the orchestra posted a $3.8 million loss due largely to the end of pandemic-era grants.
In a news release, board chair William Miller touted the orchestra’s highest-ever levels of annual fund donations and earned revenue as well as a return to pre-pandemic attendance levels.
“We will channel that momentum over the next several seasons to diversify our revenue streams in order to build greater resilience and agility in how we operate,” said president and CEO Isaac Thompson. “This is an opportunity to think bigger about the role the orchestra can play in serving our city and wider community.”
Total contributions — from annual fund donations, major gifts and Symphony Ball contributions — reached $20.4 million, holding steady from the previous year. Total earned revenue — from ticket sales, rentals and concessions — reached a record high of $12.1 million. Orchestra Hall was filled to 82 percent paid capacity, a nearly 9% increase over the prior year.
More than 230,000 guests attended in-person Minnesota Orchestra concerts in 2024-25, hailing from 83 of 87 Minnesota counties, all 50 states and 24 countries. With audio streaming, digital concerts, TV and radio broadcasts included, that number reached more than 2.5 million.
Artistic highlights from the year include:
• The launch of Nordic Soundscapes, a January festival that traversed the landscape of Nordic music, alongside a sampling of Scandinavian culture, cocktails and design in the Orchestra Hall lobby.
• The orchestra’s first performances of Puccini’s Turandot in 40 years. Led by music director Thomas Søndergård and headlined by soprano Christine Goerke and tenor Limmie Pulliam, the event kickstarted a multi-year initiative to offer annual opera-in-concert with topflight singers.
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• The return of the Composer Institute and Future Classics concert, which cast a spotlight on four national rising composers. Elise Arancio, Andrew Faulkenberry, Soomin Kim and Benjamin Webster each participated in mentoring sessions, rehearsals and seminars before having their music performed and recorded by the orchestra.
• A celebration of the 50th anniversary of Orchestra Hall through historical displays in the lobby, audience and artist anecdotes and programming nods to the 1974-75 season.
• In July, the performance auditorium inside Orchestra Hall was renamed the Lindahl Auditorium, in honor of life director and former board chair (2023-25) Nancy Lindahl and her husband John.
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