M E D I A  A D V I S O R Y

RICHMOND SYMPHONY ANNOUNCES NEW CONTRACT FOR STEVEN SMITH, NEW BOARD MEMBERS AND OFFICERS, AND THIRD STRAIGHT YEAR OF OPERATING SURPLUS

June 17, 2015 – Richmond, Virginia – The Richmond Symphony Board of Directors held its 2014-15 annual meeting on Tuesday, June 16, 2015. At this meeting, Board Chair Philip H. Bennett announced that Music Director Steven Smith’s contract has been extended for three years through the completion of the 2018-19 season.

Executive Director David Fisk also announced the successful completion of a campaign to match the $500,000 grant from the Mary Morton Parsons Foundation for the purchase of the “Big Tent” mobile outdoor stage and that, for the third year running, the Symphony is on course to post a six-figure operating surplus on the Symphony’s $6 million budget. It was also announced that the Richmond Symphony Foundation’s Endowment will finish the year with an estimated $13.5 million in assets.

During the meeting the Symphony Board also elected new members and officers. Community volunteer Rebecca J. Horner will take over as Chair of the Richmond Symphony Board for the financial year commencing July 1. She takes over from Philip H. Bennett, Partner, KPMG who has served in the role for two seasons and becomes Immediate Past Chair. Other 2015-16 officers are Richard Smith, recently retired Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer of CarMax, Vice Chair; Elizabeth Cabell Jennings, Treasurer; D. Brennen Keene, Partner, McGuire Woods, Secretary; and David J.L. Fisk, RSO Executive Director. At-large members of the executive committee are George Mahoney, former President and CEO, Media General; Sarah Knakmuhs, Vice President, Investor Relations, Altria; and The Honorable Mark T. Cox IV, former U.S. Alternate Executive Director of the World Bank and retired Senior Vice President of International Business Development, Dominion.

The Richmond Symphony Board of Directors approved these appointments at the annual meeting on June 16, 2015 and also elected four new members to its Board: Priscilla Burbank, Community Volunteer; Dr. Ronald Crutcher, incoming President, University of Richmond; Steve Girard, Southeast Regional President, Markel Wholesale; and Brandon C. Taylor, First Vice President, The Downtown Group, Morgan Stanley Wealth Management.

About the Richmond Symphony
Founded in 1957, the Richmond Symphony is the largest performing arts organization in Central Virginia. The organization includes an orchestra of more than 70 professional musicians, the 150-voice Richmond Symphony Chorus and more than 260 students in the Richmond Symphony Youth Orchestra programs. Each season, more than 200,000 members of the community enjoy concerts, radio broadcasts, and educational outreach programs. The Richmond Symphony is partially funded by the Virginia Commission for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts.