Nashville, Tenn. (January 27, 2022) — The Nashville Symphony is pleased to announce it has been approved to receive an American Rescue Plan grant from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) to help the arts and cultural sector recover from the pandemic. The Symphony is recommended to receive a $150,000 grant intended to save jobs and to fund operations and facilities, health and safety supplies, and marketing and promotional efforts to encourage attendance and participation. In total, the NEA will award $57,750,000 in grant awards to 567 arts organizations in all 50 states, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Washington, DC. 

“Our nation’s arts sector has been among the hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. The National Endowment for the Arts’ American Rescue Plan funding will help arts organizations, such as the Nashville Symphony, rebuild and reopen,” said Dr. Maria Rosario Jackson, chair of the NEA. “The arts are crucial in helping America’s communities heal, unite, and inspire, as well as essential to our nation’s economic recovery.” 

“The Nashville Symphony will utilize this generous NEA funding to help support the artistic salaries of our resident musicians, which is vital to ensuring that the Symphony is here to help the community heal, to serve future generations, and to preserve the artistic legacy of our 75-year-old institution,” said Alan D. Valentine, President & CEO of the Nashville Symphony. 

In addition to their rigorous performance schedules at Schermerhorn Symphony Center, musicians teach at local universities, volunteer for community-based projects, perform with other local ensembles, and participate in recording sessions. Funding through the American Rescue Plan will help to secure their indispensable role both within the Symphony and in the cultural and educational vitality of the Middle Tennessee region. 

The American Rescue Plan was signed into law in March 2021 when the NEA was provided $135 million for the arts sector. The funding for organizations is the third installment providing more than $57.7 million for arts organizations. In April 2021, the NEA announced $52 million (40 percent) in ARP funding would be allocated to 62 state, jurisdictional, and regional arts organizations for regranting through their respective programs. The second installment in November 2021 allocated $20.2 million to 66 local arts agencies for subgranting to local artists and art organizations.

For more information on the NEA’s American Rescue Plan grants, including the full list of arts organizations funded in this announcement, visit www.arts.gov/COVID-19/the-american-rescue-plan.  

 The GRAMMY® Award-winning Nashville Symphony has earned an international reputation for its innovative programming and its commitment to performing, recording and commissioning works by America’s leading composers. With more than 140 performances annually, the orchestra offers a broad range of classical, pops and jazz, and children’s concerts, along with an extensive array of education and community engagement programs. The Nashville Symphony has released 35 internationally distributed recordings on Naxos, which have received 26 GRAMMY® nominations and 14 GRAMMY® Awards, making it one of the most active recording orchestras in the country. The orchestra has also released recordings on Decca, Deutsche Grammophon and New West Records. www.nashvillesymphony.org