Financial crisis threatens future of one of Tri-Cities oldest community groups

The Mid-Columbia Symphony – one of the oldest organizations in the Tri-Cities – kicks off its 81st season in October with a Halloween-themed concert.

The symphony, which follows the school calendar, will highlight spooky music as part of an ongoing tradition. This year, the theme is unfortunately apt.

Caught in a post-pandemic budget crisis, the 2025-26 season is a make-or-break one for the Richland nonprofit.

Board members, supporters and musicians will spend the season focused on selling tickets and boosting the balance sheet, all in the hope there will be an 82nd season.

“The message is, ‘All hands on deck,’ ” said Donald Baer, a board member.

A $200,000 shortfall forced the symphony to trim its upcoming schedule to three concerts from five, to choose music that doesn’t require extra musicians, and to delay filling its vacant music director post.

The symphony’s future depends on bigger audiences and attracting both sponsors and donors, said Phil Townsend, who stepped back into the role of board president this week.

“We’d like to be around another 80 years,” he said.

The symphony needs to raise $160,000 to cover costs, which includes paying its musicians modest stipends for rehearsals, performances and travel, and set up a start to the following season.

If it succeeds, it will restore the full five-concert schedule and hire a musical director to succeed Nicholas Wallin, who stepped down after 17 years in June.

Adrienne Fletcher, music director for the Mid-Columbia Youth Orchestra, is serving as interim music director while the board awaits the outcome of the rebuilding effort.

The youth orchestra has its own financial resources and is not affected by the symphony’s difficulties.

The symphony needs cash, but what it really wants is a bigger audience.

Concerts moved online in the 2020-21 season because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Pre-pandemic audiences have yet to return. Leaders hope to bring back old fans and to find new ones too.

Board members emphasize the egalitarian nature of the local symphony. Attending a symphony performance doesn’t have to be expensive and it doesn’t require a fancy dress.

Tickets began at $20 and casual attire is welcome. Jeans and shorts are common.

“Come attend the symphony. If you’ve never been, come see what we’re all about,” Townsend said.

The symphony relies on ticket sales, donations and grants along with fundraising campaigns to pay its bills. Each concert costs about $30,000 to put on. Tickets would cost nearly $300 if there was no other funding source.

The dip in attendance rattled through the budget, costing it sponsorship dollars as well. According to its most recent financial filings, it raised $304,000 chiefly through contributions, and spent nearly $350,000, much of it on salaries for the music director. It pays its musicians $70 and $110 for performances and rehearsals, depending on their roles.

The symphony survived the post-pandemic seasons thanks to the generosity of a patron. The supporter, who m it declined to identify, is no longer able to support it at that level. It went from a budget surplus to a steep shortfall.

It has a small reserve account managed by the 3 Rivers Community Foundation to carry it through the coming season. After that, it’s out of money.

“If fundraising fails, the symphony will be out of business,” he said.

Supporters can help through donations, attending concerts and sponsoring seats held by principal musicians in each section. Here are some of the options:

September donations matched

A supporter is matching $30,000 in donations through Sept. 30, 2025. A $50 gift becomes $100, $100 becomes $200 and so forth. Anyone can support the symphony by making a “Resounding” gift at midcolumbiasymphony.org.

The 2025-26 season schedule features:

• 7:30 p.m., Oct. 18, Spooky Revelry, a Halloween Celebration.

• 7 p.m., Dec. 20, Joyful Resonance, The Sound of the Holidays.

• 3 p.m., Dec. 21, Joyful Resonance, The Sound of the Holidays.

• 7:30 p.m., Valiant Resilience, featuring young artists.

All performances are at Richland High School.

Musical chairs

Fiction@ J. Bookwalter in Richland hosts a fundraiser for the symphony featuring wine, charcuterie, desserts and chamber music. The event is from 3-5 p.m., Sept. 21. Tickets are $35 per person, at tinyurl.com/musical-chairs-tickets. Sales end Sept. 11.

Sponsor a chair

Sponsor the principal chair for every instrument in the orchestra. The list includes the principals for the first and second violin section, viola, cello, piano, piccolo, flute, obo, clarinet, bassoon, bass, timpani, percussion, horn, trumpet, trombone, tuba and harp.

A Tri-Cities tradition

The Mid-Columba Symphony debuted on Dec, 16, 1945, under the baton of Sydney E. Irving, a Hanford machinist with the smile of a Golden Age movie star. His all-volunteer orchestra performed Handel’s “Messiah.”

The group was first known as the Richland Concert Orchestra and later the Richland Symphony Orchestra. It became the Mid-Columbia Symphony in 1954. The Richland (formerly Columbia) High School auditorium is its long time home, though it has occasionally performed at other venues in the Tri-Cities.

The symphony began paying musicians in the mid-1960s when Theodore Plute was its director.

The symphony relies on a core of seated musicians and a rotating list of musicians who supplement its ranks, depending on the music being performed.

A typical concert features about 60 musicians.

The final performance of the 2024-25 season coincided with the departure of Nicholas Wallin after 17 seasons. For his final bow, the ambitious program required about 100 musicians.

Musicians hail from the Tri-Cities and across the Northwest. Most perform with several symphonies or perform as a side job.