Chicago Symphony Orchestra

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
362167823
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
Chicago, IL, US
Phone
312-294-3000
Rating
71
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Symphony Orchestras

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$125,909,695
Expenses
$88,908,944
Assets
$647,012,411
Liabilities
$155,005,612

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

142 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Jeff Alexander (President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Jeff Alexander (President): $990,985 total reported compensation
  • Robert Chen (Concertmaster): $625,766 total reported compensation
  • Stephen Williamson (Principal Clarinet): $485,494 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

To bring the music you love to audiences in Chicago and around the world.

What it reported doing in 2024

Chicago Symphony Orchestra Concerts - During its 134th season, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra inspired audiences through more than 130 performances, including 32 weeks of subscription concerts. The 2024/25 Season was highlighted by landmark performances with Zell Music Director Designate Klaus Makela and Music Director Emeritus for Life Riccardo Muti. Makela, whose tenure as the CSO's 11th Music Director begins in the 2027/28 Season, returned for a two-week spring residency that featured Mahler's Third Symphony and a program with Dvorak's Seventh Symphony and Brahms' Second Piano Concerto, featuring 2024/25 CSO Artist-in-Residence Daniil Trifonov. Muti conducted four distinct programs in Chicago, including a program featuring the world premiere of the CSO-commissioned Megalopolis Suite by former Mead Composer-in-Residence Osvaldo Golijov, and capped the season with four capacity performances of Verdi's Requiem Mass. This followed a critically acclaimed U.S. tour in January 2025 led by Muti, which included performances in Florida, at New York's Carnegie Hall and the McKnight Center for the Performing Arts in Stillwater, Oklahoma. Other artistic milestones included a 2025 European tour with Jaap van Zweden on the podium, where the CSO was the only North American ensemble invited to perform at the Mahler Festival in Amsterdam, followed by concerts in Hamburg, Dresden, Prague, and Wroclaw, Poland, and a collaboration with The Joffrey Ballet that featured two newly commissioned ballets.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 64% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 100% of reported program-service expenses outside its grant, affiliate-payment, and member-benefit lines. This expense classification does not rule out separately announced grant awards.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and most voting board members are independent. The filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad and the filing does not identify recipients for some grant dollars.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 67
  • Transparency & Controls: 61
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 79
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 63%; rating input score 63
  • Program expense ratio: 76.5%; rating input score 77
  • Fundraising efficiency: $15.99 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 53; 53rd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 68th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 5 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 83
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Pass
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Scored; rating input score 0
  • Grant itemization coverage: Scored; rating input score 0
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 99.2%; rating input score 99; 54th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 8 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 89
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 29.4%; rating input score 92; 92nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 7.28; rating input score 89; 89th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.24; rating input score 63; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 4.9%; rating input score 17; 17th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -0.2% per year; rating input score 0; 7th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 2.7% per year; rating input score 100; 20th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 1.9% per year; rating input score 100; 14th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 3 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
  • Where the money goes: 63% of revenue deployed · 76.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 129 of 130 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 10 filed program accomplishments · $68M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $991K · 142 people listed · 5 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $4.4M reported
  • Consistency: 41 of 41 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 9 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 16 filing years from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 10 filed money-flow records
  • Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
  • People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.
  • Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight scored 0/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Grant itemization coverage scored 0/100.
  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 53/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Form 990 shared with the board not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 17/100.