The Syracuse Symphony Orchestra filed chapter seven bankruptcy during its 50th anniversary last spring. The orchestra was millions of dollars in debt and its disbandment creates a massive artistic void in Syracuse. But some hope has risen in the aftermath. 

M&T Bank, which served the SSO and now controls its assets, is making a concerted effort to keep the symphony’s artistic materials in the Syracuse community. The Steinway piano went to the Cultural Resources Council of Syracuse and Onondaga County. Many instruments went to the Syracuse Youth Orchestra. And, most importantly, the entire sheet music collection will have a new home at Syracuse University’s Setnor School of Music. 

The School of Information Studies will also provide an essential service in the preservation of this collection. The iSchool, in collaboration with the College of Visual and Performing Arts, will digitize the archive to ensure its longevity. 

The orchestra collected and bought the rights to hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of sheet music, and for 50 years, the SSO’s directors and musicians had annotated these pages. As an entity, the collection of sheet music holds the greatest worth both financially and practically. Many in the community feared the music would be split up in the liquidation process, making the recreation of an orchestra more difficult in the future.

Donating the music to Setnor keeps the haunting loss of the SSO alive. The annotations provide ghost-like reminders of a once-thriving classical music scene in the city and perhaps the hope that one may rise again. No less important, the music will provide a wonderful resource for SU students and professors.