Edison Estates, Ding Darling, Manatee Park: Things to do in Fort Myers
Here are five must-see places to visit in Lee County, from The Edison Estates to Manatee Park.
- Southwest Florida Symphony is closing after 64 years, citing rising costs and declining interest in classical music.
- The symphony’s musicians blame mismanagement and a lack of community engagement for the closure.
- The musicians’ union is calling for new leadership and community support to revive the orchestra.
- Disagreements exist regarding the viability of classical music and the reasons for the symphony’s financial struggles.
(This article has been updated with a response from Southwest Florida Symphony’s management)
Southwest Florida Symphony leaders announced plans this week to shut down the orchestra after 64 years in Fort Myers. The reasons, they said, include rising venue costs and dwindling interest in classical music.
Now the symphony’s musicians have come out with their side of the story. And they’re blaming the orchestra’s management for what they call “over a decade of weak and shortsighted leadership.”
“The problem isn’t classical music,” said Richard Sparrow, secretary-treasurer of the musicians’ union, American Federation of Musicians Local 427-721, in an April 30 news release. “The problem is failed leadership. Rather than face the difficult but necessary work of community-building, strategic fundraising and artistic development, management relied on a narrative of decline. They chose to shrink rather than innovate.”
The union statement cites “chronic mismanagement” from outgoing CEO Amy Ginsburg and the orchestra’s board of directors, as well as “programming cuts, declining community presence and deteriorating labor relations.”
“These conditions have driven many musicians away,” the news release said, “and steadily eroded the orchestra’s artistic identity and public support.”
Symphony leaders, however, say they stand by their earlier statements.
“This is the reality for the Southwest Florida Symphony,” they said in a new statement Wednesday afternoon. “The fact is that performance costs and operational expenses have consistently outpaced income. This has resulted in repeated annual deficits, most recently totaling more than $170,000, which we can no longer continue to absorb year after year.
“Before reaching this difficult decision, we thoroughly explored options to find a sustainable path moving forward. Our focus now is on celebrating the decades of impact, extraordinary talent and powerful performances that have brought joy and entertainment to our community for so many years.”
Violin and viola player Rachel Cox said she was surprised when the orchestra announced April 29 that it was calling it quits — especially since the symphony already had plans for its 2025-26 season. But she knows the orchestra was facing some daunting problems.
“There was a decline, definitely, in internal and external support for the organization,” Cox told The News-Press/Naples Daily News. “There just was not the enthusiasm and the sense of community.
“But I feel that, definitely, what was left of the organization is salvageable — just with new leadership and new direction. I don’t think something that’s been around for 64 years is something you should just let go lightly.”
Other orchestra musicians reached for comment Tuesday and Wednesday either didn’t respond, weren’t available or referred questions to the union.
Symphony’s plans to shut down, no severance for musicians
The symphony performed its final concert, “American Beauty” — the last concert of the 2024-25 season — on April 26 at Barbara B. Mann Performing Arts Hall. The professional orchestra’s approximately 70 musicians perform at Mann Hall and other Southwest Florida venues.
Cox said she’s sad that the symphony has decided to shut down. She’s been playing with them since 1998 and hopes the orchestra somehow survives under new management.
“It hurts,” she said. “It does hurt.”
The orchestra will remain in business through the end of its fiscal year on June 30. That coincides with the previously announced departure of the orchestra’s longtime CEO, Ginsburg.
The orchestra’s musicians — who aren’t full-time employees and are paid per concert and rehearsal — won’t get a severance, said Tom Uhler, president of the orchestra’s board of trustees. That’s part of their union contract agreed on by both the musicians and management, he said.
The orchestra’s board blamed the decision on many factors, including departing leadership, rising performance costs, decreasing ticket sales, more entertainment options in Southwest Florida, years of annual financial deficits and the public’s dwindling interest in classical music.
“Classical music is struggling across the country…” Uhler said. “Nationally, only about 5 percent of the population across America gives a hoot about classical music.
“Our problem here is that, as the younger people are now retiring, they didn’t come up with classical music. And so they’re unlikely to start listening to it now.”
Another factor, Uhler said, was Gov. Ron DeSantis’ decision to cut all state arts-and-culture grants last year. The orchestra had requested $148,000, he said, and got nothing. They’re expecting not to get much this year, either.
“That’s a pretty good hit,” Uhler said.
Southwest Florida Symphony musicians call for ‘new visionary leadership’ to save the orchestra
The union, however, objected to the orchestra’s reasons and called them “misleading and defeatist claims.”
“The suggestion that orchestral music is no longer viable is simply false,” Sparrow said in the news release. “Many orchestras across the country — including right here in Florida — have demonstrated the opposite. Sarasota and Naples, just an hour north and south, have thriving ensembles with loyal audiences, strong fundraising and sustainable contracts.”
The union called for a “new visionary leadership” to save the orchestra.
“The musicians are calling on civic leaders, philanthropists and arts advocates to reject the false premise that Fort Myers no longer values orchestral music,” the news release said. “They urge the community to demand accountability and to work with them to create a renewed path forward — one that honors the legacy of the Symphony while ensuring its future.”
Southwest Florida Symphony is too important to let it fade away, Sparrow said in the release.
“This orchestra has been a cornerstone of the cultural fabric in Fort Myers for over 60 years,” he said. “It is not too late — but it will require bold new leadership with the vision, transparency and determination to rebuild trust and reenergize support.”
Cox said she hopes people come together and give Southwest Florida Symphony a new life. She’s seen it happen in Punta Gorda, where she’s part of The Florida Philharmonic — a new orchestra that’s taken the place of the now shuttered Punta Gorda Symphony.
“Anything is possible…” Cox said. “We’ve got the community rallied behind us. People are so excited about this new orchestra that’s up and coming.”
Musicians dispute ‘tired old trope’ that classical music is dying
Troy Chang, Southwest Florida Symphony’s principal cellist, said he learned about the symphony’s closure in a 10:12 a.m. email Tuesday, April 29 — about 30 minutes before the orchestra announced the news on social media.
“I was in the middle of a rehearsal at the time with another orchestra that actually seems to value its musicians and endeavors to expand its reach within the community,” Chang said in the news release. “As such, it has seen its audience slowly but surely come back and grow in the years post pandemic.”
Chang says he wasn’t surprised by the news, though.
“Having spent years as the Orchestra Committee Chair dealing with and negotiating CBA’s (collective bargaining agreements) with management, their shortsightedness, absolute callousness in their caring of the musicians, and refusal to properly fundraise makes this unfortunately almost expected.”
The orchestra’s board of directors and staff, including Ginsburg, have been working hard to raise money and get sponsors, Uhler said Tuesday. But it hasn’t been enough to make up for their financial losses. A typical Southwest Florida Symphony show would have only about 1,000 people in the audience.
It was a difficult decision to shutter the nonprofit orchestra, Uhler said, but a necessary one.
“It’s just to the point where after several years of losses, you can’t keep it up…” he said. “This is reality. …
“I feel sad for the musicians. I feel sad for Maestro Kirov (interim artistic adviser and principal conductor for the orchestra’s 2024-25 season), who’s come in this year and done a fabulous job. And I feel sad for the community.”
Chang, however, objected to symphony leaders’ claim that classical music is struggling to thrive in the United States.
“That’s another untrue tired old trope of an excuse that has existed for centuries,” he said. “Classical music has never been as popular as pop music. That’s not its purpose.
“A painting by Michelangelo is not better or worse than a comic strip — they are different and serve different purposes. Classical music is simultaneously art and entertainment that is meant to inspire and lift up its consumers, and its messages are just as pertinent now as they were a hundred or two hundred years ago.
“Just because classical music isn’t as popular as Taylor Swift doesn’t mean it is dying. It will always have its place in culture and society because of said inspiration and relevancy.”
The closure follows a bitter battle two years ago over a new union contract between the musicians and orchestra management. In 2023, Southwest Florida Symphony musicians threatened to strike over issues that included a chopped concert schedule, frozen wages and four years of negotiations without a union contract.
They eventually agreed on a new contract, but Chang suggests that the resources the orchestra used to “fight the union” could have instead gone to meeting the musicians’ requests.
“So many of my colleagues have spent countless hours of uncompensated time defending and working towards an orchestra of which we could all be proud,” Chang said. “But the board chose to spend untold amounts of money on lawyers to destroy the musician’s union within the orchestra when the money spent on said lawyers could have given the musicians everything we were asking for in CBA negotiations and then some, many times over.”
“I am grateful for the privilege of serving as Principal Cello of the Southwest Florida Symphony for almost the past 10 years and thankful for the friends and colleagues that made that place special,” Chang continued. “I’m sorry we were all so profoundly betrayed by our management.”
Cox said she hopes the orchestra survives — even if its in a new form or under new leadership.
“This really was one of the first cultural organizations in the area,” Cox said about Southwest Florida Symphony. “And it really inspired other performing arts organizations to develop.
“So just out of respect for what it’s done in the community, I think, it’s definitely worth perpetuating.”
Charles Runnells is an arts and entertainment reporter for The News-Press and the Naples Daily News. To reach him, call 239-335-0368 or email crunnells@gannett.com. Follow or message him on Facebook(@charles.runnells.7), Instagram and Threads (@crunnells1) and X (@CharlesRunnells)