The City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra is the next institution left "devastated" by the city-wide arts funding cuts, as it will lose 60% of funding from the city council this year, and by 2025, 100% of the funding will be cut.
The Largest Budget Cut in the History of Local Public Organizations
CBSO joins other world-renowned arts organizations like Birmingham Royal Ballet and the Repertory Theatre in the recent wave of cuts after the Birmingham City Council, EU's largest public organization, announced its bankruptcy in the year prior.
The financially collapsing council announced last Feb. 21 that it'll execute a last-ditch effort to cut costs by reducing all of its grants by half in the current year, before completely withdrawing all of the grants in the next year.
This means that in these two collective years, the council will cut over $3.8 million to arts institutions and organizations it is currently funding.
In a public release by the CBSO, the organization said it was "devastated" in light of the recent announcement from the city council, especially because of the "impact that [the cuts] would have on people's daily lives across the city."
"The CBSO has received funding from Birmingham City Council for the past 104 years, and so we are saddened by the proposals contained within the draft budget," wrote CBSO, whose complete funding cut next year will amount to over $798,000.
Despite this, however, the organization is "determined" to keep working as a core institution that represents Birmingham's culture and arts, saying, "We will take some time now to reflect on our future plans, but still look forward to announcing a vibrant and exciting new season in May."
The city's musical institutions are not the only ones affected by the cuts, as 25 out of the total 36 local libraries have announced their closure after the city council's plans were made public.
