Is it real?
Yes. Never revoked by the IRS. Latest filing on record: FY2025. IRS ruling in Oct 1934.
IRS Pub. 78 · IRS Auto-Revocation List · IRS Business Master File
Where the money goes
79 cents of each dollar spent went to programs.
Form 990 Part IX, line 25, columns B–D. Every line is in By the numbers.
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Who runs it and what they're paid
66 people listed on the 990; $2.9M paid to officers and key staff.
Jonathan Martin’s $534K as President & CEO is at the 25th percentile of top reported officer pay among 53 $100M+ arts & culture nonprofits. Peer set: organizations in the same NTEE major field of work and revenue-size band, compared on each org’s own highest-paid officer/key-employee, from Form 990 Part VII / 990-PF Part VIII. Descriptive placement, not a verdict on whether the pay is appropriate.
Compensation history total reportable pay by year · 8 named individuals · Part VII
| Name | FY2025 | FY2024 | FY2023 | FY2022 | FY2021 | FY2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Martin Jonathan | — | $519,035 | $503,917 | $540,583 | $310,563 | $400,797 |
| Jonathan Martin | $534,269 | — | — | — | — | — |
| Robert McGrath | $359,078 | — | — | — | — | — |
| McGrath Robert | — | $350,520 | $261,412 | $242,931 | $207,584 | $205,290 |
| Stefani Matsuo | $324,305 | — | — | — | — | — |
| Matsuo Stefani | — | $313,373 | $292,169 | $259,081 | $245,030 | $214,456 |
| Freshwater Richard | — | $286,938 | $211,813 | $195,184 | $173,860 | $174,404 |
| Richard Freshwater | $273,355 | — | — | — | — | — |
Total reportable compensation (Form 990 Part VII column D / Schedule J column E) by filing year, matched by name within this organization. The Schedule J base / bonus / deferred breakdown is not parsed into this dataset.
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Questions the 990 asks
The form asks each of these directly. These are the filed answers.
- Family or business ties among officersPt VI · Ln 2Yes
- Top official's pay set by an independent reviewPt VI · Ln 15aYes
Programs and updates
Performs classical, pops, and educational orchestra concerts, also providing musical services for ballet and other arts organizations.
Questions for Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra
Your first name shows with your question. Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra answers here, for everyone.
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Orchestra concerts of classical works (54), pops (30), youth and educational (177), and other concerts (17). Additionally, the orchestra provides services to the cincinnati ballet (29) as well as other services to similar mission-aligned entities.
Funders
Who pays for it.
From grant filings on record. Receipts are incomplete: individual donors are never listed.
Grants
By the numbers
The FY2023 990, line by line.
Download 990
| Line | Start FY23 | End FY23 |
|---|---|---|
| Cash and savingsLn 1–2 | $26.2M | $37.2M |
| InvestmentsLn 11–13 | $221.7M | $234.3M |
| Land, buildings, equipmentLn 10c | $38.7M | $37.7M |
| Total assetsLn 16 | $298.4M | $324.3M |
| LiabilitiesLn 26 | $5.4M | $7.3M |
| Net assetsLn 32 | $292.9M | $317.1M |
| Line | Total | Programs | Management | Fundraising |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pay of current officers, directors and key staffLn 5 | $1.9M | $1.6M | $201K | $100K |
| Other salaries and wagesLn 7 | $18.3M | $15.3M | $2.0M | $970K |
| Pension plan contributionsLn 8 | $1.0M | $923K | $82K | $35K |
| Other employee benefitsLn 9 | $2.3M | $1.9M | $214K | $129K |
| Payroll taxesLn 10 | $1.4M | $1.2M | $127K | $74K |
| Legal feesLn 11b | $80K | $80K | ||
| Accounting feesLn 11c | $61K | $61K | ||
| Professional fundraising feesLn 11e | $84K | $84K | ||
| Investment management feesLn 11f | $381K | $381K | ||
| Other fees for servicesLn 11g | $4.0M | $2.8M | $1.2M | |
| Advertising and promotionLn 12 | $1.4M | $1.4M | $440 | $37K |
| Office expensesLn 13 | $152K | $68K | $75K | $8K |
| OccupancyLn 16 | $1.2M | $930K | $280K | $9K |
| TravelLn 17 | $245K | $220K | $17K | $8K |
| Conferences, conventions and meetingsLn 19 | $215K | $107K | $91K | $17K |
| Depreciation, depletion and amortizationLn 22 | $1.6M | $279K | $1.3M | $2K |
| InsuranceLn 23 | $158K | $74K | $84K | |
| Other expenses (24a–d)Ln 24 | $3.4M | $3.1M | $36K | $230K |
| All other expensesLn 24e | $598K | $303K | $280K | $16K |
| Total functional expensesLn 25 | $38.5M | $30.3M | $6.5M | $1.7M |
Filing history
| Year | Money in | Money out | In minus out | Net assets | Download |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025 Latest | $115.8M | $42.0M | $73.9M | $451.5M | 990 PDF |
| FY2024 | $53.3M | $40.2M | $13.2M | $359.9M | 990 PDF |
| FY2023 Viewing | $51.1M | $38.5M | $12.6M | $317.1M | 990 PDF |
| FY2022 | $55.2M | $37.0M | $18.2M | $292.9M | 990 PDF |
| FY2021 | $44.4M | $27.4M | $17.0M | $323.8M | 990 PDF |
| FY2020 | $72.8M | $30.8M | $42.1M | $266.0M | 990 PDF |
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Schedules filed Part IV
See the full FY2023 990 (6 parts)
Part I · Summary $51,084,528 revenue, 12 lines filed
Part VI · Governance 54 of 56 board members independent, 1 to look at
Part VIII · Statement of revenue $51,084,528 across 10 lines filed
Part IX · Statement of functional expenses $38,506,792 across 19 lines filed
Part X · Balance sheet $324,339,521 assets, 17 lines filed
Part XI · Reconciliation of net assets $317,050,497 net assets at year end
Form 990 e-file (XML) FY2023 from the IRS · Classification, formation year and address from the IRS Business Master File
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