Oracle Commits $10 Million to Sustain Nashville Symphony

Just days after the financially strapped Nashville Symphony suspended its 2026-27 season and furloughed its musicians and staffers in an effort to erase a $10 million operating deficit, technology industry behemoth Oracle has stepped up to sustain the embattled nonprofit.

Specifically, and according to a Sunday press release, Oracle is investing $10 million in the organization in what is being called a “strategic partnership” to help the Nashville Symphony establish firm fiscal footing and to keep the 2026-27 season intact.

With the Oracle assistance, the nonprofit will be able to maintain its 27 full-time staff positions and all 77 orchestra members, thus avoiding a furlough that was announced on Sept. 29 and was to have begun on Oct. 18.

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“Oracle’s commitment is a lifeline for the Nashville Symphony and the community we serve,” Mark Tillinger, Nashville Symphony's newly named president and CEO, says in the release. “[The] partnership gives us the ability to bring our musicians and our music back to the stage, and it gives us momentum as we build toward a stronger, more sustainable long-term future. We’re immensely grateful for Oracle’s belief in the Nashville Symphony.”  

Tillenger was tapped to lead the nonprofit after Mark Cantrell stepped down as president and chief executive officer following a two-month tenure.

Based in Austin, Oracle is currently constructing its future River North campus. The campus could feature upwards of 25 structures, 1,700 trees and a security fence enclosing the bulk of the site.

The 82.3-acre East Bank site, which overlooks the Cumberland River, offers a main address of 800 Cowan St. and eventually will serve as Oracle’s global headquarters. The financial woes — and the need for Oracle's investment — came amid long-standing financial concerns heightened following the recent death of main benefactor Martha Ingram.

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Symphony officials said last week the organization’s cost structure and revenue base had become “increasingly misaligned” as the institution had operated significantly on the generosity of Ingram. Oracle's investment is the latest in major changes with the nonprofit.

In July, the since-departed Cantrell was named CEO, replacing longtime leader Alan Valentine.

Prior to that, and in February, the symphony announced that veteran conductor Leonard Slatkin will serve as music director through the 2028-29 season. The announcement came after the nonprofit said in July 2025 that Slatkin, 82, would serve as music adviser for what was then the next three years. OSlatkin — who replaced Giancarlo Guerrero — previously held the Nashville Symphony music director role from 2006 to 2009.

Over the years, the Nashville Symphony has struggled at times financially — with the challenges having evolved, in part, since the Great Flood of 2010, an historic weather event that caused about $40 million in damages to the symphony’s home, the Schermerhorn Symphony Center.

In July 2024, the nonprofit laid off four vice presidents and six junior staff members. In April 2025, the organization laid off eight employees, including several director-level positions. (At the time, 54 employees were listed on the website.) COVID-19 also created difficulties, as the symphony lost upwards of $10 million in revenue due to the pandemic.

The aforementioned Ingram, who died in August at age 90, likely spared the nonprofit from having to cease operations in 2013 when she assumed a $20 million mortgage. That move prevented a foreclosure auction. The Schermerhorn, which offered an original cost of about $124 million, serves as collateral for the mortgage.

The mortgage was subsequently restructured three times. In May, Symplace Realty and the symphony agreed to extend the loan's due date by an additional five years, with the loan to mature and the debt to be retired in July 2035.

This article was first published by our sister publication, the Nashville Post.