Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony Musicians Bring Orchestra Back from Bankruptcy

The orchestra's bankruptcy was formally annulled after players re-vamped the board, consulted with creditors, and brought their plans before the Ontario Superior Court of Justice

The board of directors at Canada's Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony (KWS) recently announced that the orchestra has reversed its bankruptcy. On October 9, 2024, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice approved the proposal to annul the bankruptcy, after the orchestra presented a credible proposal to creditors.

In September 2023, the KWS canceled its entire 2023/24 season at short notice owing to financial constraints. The players, who had been on unemployment insurance during the summer break, received only 48 hours' notice that the season would not be proceeding as planned.

The reversal of the orchestra's fortunes was brought about through a sustained effort from its players, who contacted the KWS foundation and its creditors and lobbied them to create a new board. They coaxed local arts administrator Bill Poole out of retirement to chair the board and spent months working through alternative funding options with the orchestra's creditors.

While it will be some time before the KWS is able to mount a full season as they did in former years, the orchestra is putting on three concerts before the end of 2024. On Remembrance (November 16) features works by Jean Sibelius, Avril Coleridge-Taylor, Ralph Vaughan Williams, and Beethoven. Then, there will be two performances of the festive program A Holiday Celebration, on December 20 and 21.

"The proposal was accepted and then it went to the Superior Court of Ontario in London, and the judge ruled that the bankruptcy could be annulled. I think partly because the proposal then accepted no objections to it," said Bill Poole.

"So we've been working hard on it since then. But the reason that we're at this point today is that the musicians just absolutely refused to let go of the K-W Symphony. And it's their tenacity and hard work that got us to this point."

"It's as if the bankruptcy never happened. Our incorporation documents and our charitable registration number exist, and so we're ready to start business again as if nothing has happened. With the with the added benefit that we have no debt at this point."