Following the spectacular opening concerts in Nashville, I was floating on air. Everything seemed right with the world, and the future looked great for the orchestra, the city, and me. And then it crashed. Just days after our final performance, I received an unexpected update from the board of directors.

Instead of my usual diary-style entries, I am going to share a few words that summarize what happened.

It started with a phone call alerting me to an article that would be coming out in the Nashville Business Journal and was quickly picked up by other outlets.

There was also a marvelous piece posted on the Substack site “Classically Colleen.” It is worth reading and sums up the situation by giving some historical background.

As the week went on, it became clear that we had only enough cash to get the orchestra through three more weeks of concerts. Since I wasn’t in Nashville to speak directly to the musicians, I wrote them the following note, which I asked to be placed on their music stands during a rehearsal:

My friends,

As you know, we face some of the most significant financial issues the orchestra and hall have ever confronted. Following the magnificent opening week, when we kept our audience fully engaged, I learned of these difficulties. At that time, I had no idea that things were in such dire shape.

Over the past couple of weeks, I have worked closely with Mark and Teresa to develop a strategy we hope to adopt. We must put this organization on firm fiscal ground. We relied on one person to get us through difficulties, and she is no longer with us.

Although it would be wonderful to have a guardian angel again, this is simply not how arts organizations work anymore. Clearly, Nashville is a city of extraordinary growth. All of you are a part of it. We must continue to play at the highest possible level, for each and every rehearsal and performance.

As Leonard Bernstein said, “we must make music more intensely, more beautifully, more devotedly than ever.” Under the circumstances, this is not easy, but I have every confidence that your individual and collective talent will make it happen.

Some of you might be wondering what my future with the orchestra will be. After the Sunday performance of our opening-week concerts, we had a reception. Peter Otto gave a speech about how well we all worked together. It was moving beyond words and brought me to tears.

Not that there was ever a doubt, but I want you all to know that I will continue to be the Music Director of the Nashville Symphony. We are in this together, and I support you 100%. I will do everything possible to ensure we have a great future together, for as long as you want me.

Sylvia McNair, who is a dear friend, asked me if I was happy. I said that I am exactly where I want and need to be. All of you have given me an energy and renewed vitality that belies the 82 years that I have roamed the planet. We will get through this. Back in the 1960s, a phrase was used during the civil rights strife. It applies to us now. “Keep the faith.”

I will be in Nashville Thursday to have meetings and speak to the board the next day. Then I will have the pleasure of being in the audience for your concert Friday night. I look forward to seeing each of you then, as well as in a couple of weeks for our next collaboration.

Leonard

With all kinds of ideas spinning in my head, I tried everything I could to avert what was seemingly inevitable. The board meeting, which was supposed to be in person, was moved to a day when the only option was to convene via Zoom.

Here is what I said to the board, conveying some of the same thoughts I expressed to the orchestra in a different tone.

Here is the official press release that went out in the early evening of September 28.

The next day, the recently appointed CEO Mark Cantrell resigned, and the board’s executive committee appointed former board member Mark Tillinger as president and CEO.

With just two weeks to go until the announced suspension of the season, I had to plan a program appropriate for that final week. If by some miracle the suspension were lifted, then we could proceed with the “Fingal’s Cave” Overture, Mozart’s 39^th Symphony, and the Wynton Marsalis Violin Concerto with Kelly Hall-Tompkins as previously scheduled, but if this was to be our final concert of the season, it did not make sense to end with a soloist. The orchestra had to be front and center.

In the end, I decided that we would do the Marsalis as the first half, as it is about 45 minutes long. How would we finish? I had a couple of options in mind, but the one I felt was most appropriate for this particular concert was Tchaikovsky’s Sixth Symphony. All of us onstage have to put deep emotions into this piece, and I can only imagine how difficult rehearsals might be.

As I write this, there are small glimmers of hope. Keep watching this space for further updates and opinions.

Since this is a busy October, with conducting engagements including the Nashville Symphony as well as another orchestra being taken out of its home, the National Symphony, I will have a lot to write about in the next posting.

See you next month if not sooner.

Leonard