KITCHENER WATERLOO SYMPHONY LAUNCHES 2025-2026 SEASON

September 2025 will mark the beginning of the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony’s (KWS) 2025-26 season. Excitement in the region’s classical music scene is high and hopeful. 

“The 2025-26 season marks the next step in restoring the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony’s prominence in Waterloo Region’s Cultural Communities,” the official 2025-26 season brochure reads. 

This restoration is in the wake of the KWS’s abrupt 2023 closure. Although the 2023 season was canceled just two days before it was set to begin, money had been an issue for some time. In 2019, the organization had a deficit of $730,000.  

Following closures due to COVID-19, subscription sales for the KWS dropped by 75 per cent— from 8,000 members to just 2,000. By April 2023, the deficit had reached $909,000 and was projected to hit $2 million by 2025. The symphony declared bankruptcy in September 2023 and all board members except the chair resigned. 

“[COVID-19] killed an already weakened symphony,” KWS’s new Board Chair, Bill Poole said. 

Rather than restart from scratch, musicians of the KWS proposed to creditors that their debts be non-payable and their bankruptcy annulled. 

“It allowed us to be the same name and organization when applying for artist council grants,” Kathy Robertson, co-chair of the Players’ Committee and french horn player, said. 

These efforts were successful, and  the symphony’s bankruptcy was annulled in October 2024. Musicians immediately got to work putting on a 2024-25 season with money from a GoFundMe campaign. 

“Internally, the players continued to do everything to put the concerts on and to pay for them. They did everything, like bringing the timpani from downstairs, getting stuff on trucks, setting up stands, striking stands,” Poole said. 

The 2025-26 season ushers in a new era for the KWS, one that is decidedly less scattered than the last, but still recovering. 

“It’s operating as a professional organization…with staff,” Robinson said. 

“As minimal staff as you can imagine,” Poole said. 

This leanness is KWS’s solution to remaining deficit-free. Post-September 2023, the board has a strict no-deficit policy, and the Centre in the Square, Waterloo Region’s main concert hall, (originally built with the KWS in mind), will no longer be a focal point in the symphony’s programming. In 2022-23, more than 40 shows were played at the Centre in the Square. In 2025-26, there will only be 3.  

“We’ve gone from the symphony playing lots of concerts in the big hall, and doing as much other stuff, outreach, as possible, to playing a lot of other stuff and a few concerts in the big hall,” Poole said. 

One of these few concerts will be the KWS Fundraising Gala, on Nov. 20, 2025. The symphony will play Mahler’s Resurrection Symphony. On the whole, things look uncertain, yet hopeful to Poole and Robinson. 

“We are committed to keeping the music alive,” Poole said.

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THE BOATHOUSE IS BACK WITH A SPLASH

On Nov. 22, 2024, the Boathouse in Willow River Park welcomed an excited crowd of fans and local leaders to celebrate the venue’s grand opening.  

The restaurant and live music venue has undergone extensive remodeling and expansion since its lease was awarded to Walkinshaw Holdings, a group of local entrepreneurs, in 2022.   

During his remarks, Berry Vrbanovic, mayor of Kitchener, mentioned the musical acts who have performed at the Boathouse, including Steve Strongman, The Sheepdogs, Paul McCloud, Shannon Lynn and Mel Brown.   

“They transformed the Boathouse into a venue that promises to bring us together in ways that are both fresh and familiar, as a vibrant restaurant and a live music destination, and it’s been awesome to watch and appreciate it,” Vrbanovic said.  

The completely remodeled venue includes 2,800 square feet of dining and entertainment space and a 5,000 square foot patio that extends partially over the lake at Willow River Park. The Boathouse had a soft opening earlier in the week.  

James Barr, a partner of Walkinshaw Holdings, said it was an opportunity to celebrate with friends and family who have supported the team over the last two years.  

“We finally had the chance to sit back and enjoy. The food was great. The staff was super passionate and conscientious. Everyone seems to have this sense of ownership,” Barr said.   

The Boathouse was originally a two-storey structure built in 1929. A fire in 1967 caused significant damage, but the city was able to save the ground floor and replace the second story with a roof.   

Its time as a music venue began in the 1990s with a series of operators, including Cindy Ward and Kevin Doyle. Barr said their team received feedback and suggestions from Boathouse fans across different generations.  

“There’s definitely a lot of folks from around town who have been here through the eras of the Boathouse, and we got some good feedback. People have been surprised at the food and the decor,” Barr said. “It’s definitely a big change from what it was before.”  

The Boathouse has partnered with Good Co. Productions and Farm League Brewing to program its lineup of musicians and bands that will soon take the Boathouse stage.  

Amit Mehta, co-founder and partner at Good Co. Productions, said the team has put a lot of attention and thought into how music will return to the Boathouse.   

“It’s a really core part of Kitchener culture when it comes to music. We’re trying to make it a very flexible space so that it can showcase every genre possible,” Mehta said.  

“But it’s really all about having a bit of a blank canvas that folks can grow into,” he said. 

The Boathouse can accommodate up to 100 to 120 people for live shows. Mehta added that the venue’s patio space is also set up for concerts in the summer.  

While the Boathouse team prepares for the first live shows, Barr said he and his partners are enjoying seeing longtime and first-time Boathouse patrons come into the space. He added that they know expectations are high and are excited to bring something new to the community.  

“With spaces that have been in the community for a long time, there’s always going to be a kind of nostalgia for how it used to be—and maybe it should still be that way,” Barr said. 

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