Is it real?
Yes. Never revoked by the IRS. Latest filing on record: FY2024. IRS ruling in Feb 1927.
IRS Pub. 78 · IRS Auto-Revocation List · IRS Business Master File
Where the money goes
69 cents of each dollar spent went to programs.
Form 990 Part IX, line 25, columns B–D. Every line is in By the numbers.
Who runs it and what they're paid
145 people listed on the 990; $3.5M paid to officers and key staff.
Jeff Alexander’s $914K as President is at the 64th 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 | FY2024 | FY2024 | FY2023 | FY2022 | FY2021 | FY2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Riccardo Muti | — | $628,175 | $942,263 | $952,263 | $1,115,293 | $1,350,014 |
| Jeff Alexander | $914,323 | $898,151 | $741,177 | $529,441 | $513,036 | $611,532 |
| Robert Chen | $554,827 | $566,546 | $536,137 | $379,024 | $358,007 | $470,314 |
| Esteban Batallan Cons | — | $355,107 | $322,407 | $217,995 | — | — |
| Mark Almond | $343,234 | — | — | — | — | — |
| William Welter | $339,617 | — | — | — | — | — |
| Stephen Williamson | $331,472 | $332,961 | $324,361 | $232,425 | $226,805 | $284,214 |
| Dale Hedding | $329,404 | $320,202 | $327,764 | $265,794 | $269,031 | $24,861 |
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
Enriches lives globally through world-class orchestral performances, community engagement initiatives, and intensive training programs for young professional musicians.
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Chicago Symphony Orchestra Concerts
To help audiences stay connected with music during the pandemic, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra Association launched a new streaming platform, CSOtv, in fall of 2020. Anchoring the new digital content available on CSOtv was the CSO Sessions series, created with artistic guidance from Zell Music Director Riccardo Muti and featuring…
Civic Orchestra of Chicago
In the 2020/21 Season, members of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago - the CSO's prestigious ensemble for early-career musicians - performed music by diverse composers from the 18th to 21st centuries in six concerts filmed for streaming on CSOtv.
Education Concerts and Activities
Across Chicago and around the world, the Negaunee Music Institute (NMI) connects people to the extraordinary resources of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. In the 2020/21 Season, the NMI presented outdoor concerts for residents of senior centers and healthcare workers.
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Funders
Who pays for it.
From grant filings on record. Receipts are incomplete: individual donors are never listed.
Grants
By the numbers
The FY2021 990, line by line.
Download 990
| Line | Start FY21 | End FY21 |
|---|---|---|
| Cash and savingsLn 1–2 | $5.9M | $6.5M |
| InvestmentsLn 11–13 | $360.8M | $462.4M |
| Land, buildings, equipmentLn 10c | $81.5M | $78.0M |
| Total assetsLn 16 | $475.4M | $576.7M |
| LiabilitiesLn 26 | $258.5M | $228.0M |
| Net assetsLn 32 | $216.9M | $348.7M |
| Line | Total | Programs | Management | Fundraising |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pay of current officers, directors and key staffLn 5 | $1.4M | $258K | $850K | $261K |
| Other salaries and wagesLn 7 | $19.4M | $16.5M | $1.4M | $1.5M |
| Pension plan contributionsLn 8 | $2.9M | $2.8M | $41K | $75K |
| Other employee benefitsLn 9 | $4.3M | $3.5M | $375K | $424K |
| Payroll taxesLn 10 | $1.6M | $1.3M | $156K | $160K |
| Legal feesLn 11b | $79K | $24K | $33K | $22K |
| Accounting feesLn 11c | $111K | $111K | ||
| Professional fundraising feesLn 11e | $310K | $310K | ||
| Investment management feesLn 11f | $1.4M | $1.4M | ||
| Other fees for servicesLn 11g | $1.8M | $888K | $874K | $27K |
| Advertising and promotionLn 12 | $1.3M | $962K | $197K | $152K |
| Office expensesLn 13 | $441K | $225K | $120K | $96K |
| Information technologyLn 14 | $493K | $252K | $134K | $107K |
| OccupancyLn 16 | $2.1M | $1.7M | $168K | $205K |
| TravelLn 17 | $18K | $5K | $10K | $3K |
| Conferences, conventions and meetingsLn 19 | $1K | $1K | $49 | |
| InterestLn 20 | $4.6M | $4.6M | ||
| Depreciation, depletion and amortizationLn 22 | $3.9M | $3.6M | $323K | |
| InsuranceLn 23 | $266K | $266K | ||
| Other expenses (24a–d)Ln 24 | $655K | $488K | $109K | $59K |
| All other expensesLn 24e | $231K | $83K | $15K | $134K |
| Total functional expensesLn 25 | $47.2M | $32.5M | $11.1M | $3.5M |
Filing history
| Year | Money in | Money out | In minus out | Net assets | Download |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2024 | $125.5M | $88.6M | $36.8M | $420.3M | 990 PDF |
| FY2023 | $80.8M | $85.6M | −$4.8M | $342.8M | 990 PDF |
| FY2022 | $102.4M | $75.1M | $27.4M | $330.4M | 990 PDF |
| FY2021 Viewing | $109.9M | $47.2M | $62.7M | $348.7M | 990 PDF |
| FY2020 | $73.8M | $76.3M | −$2.4M | $216.9M | 990 PDF |
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Schedules filed Part IV
See the full FY2021 990 (4 parts)
Part VIII · Statement of revenue $109,905,535 across 11 lines filed
Part IX · Statement of functional expenses $47,205,442 across 21 lines filed
Part X · Balance sheet $576,700,123 assets, 21 lines filed
Part XI · Reconciliation of net assets $348,654,845 net assets at year end
Form 990 e-file (XML) FY2021 from the IRS · Classification, formation year and address from the IRS Business Master File
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