Symphony Space
Symphony Space is a non-profit performing arts center founded in 1978 on Manhattan's Upper West Side, producing multidisciplinary programming in literature, music, film, theatre, dance, and comedy, and operating education programs that serve over 17,500 students and adults annually.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1978
- HeadquartersNew York, United States
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingServices
What Symphony Space does
Symphony Space is a non-profit performing arts center founded in 1978 on Manhattan's Upper West Side at 2537 Broadway at 95th Street, operating two primary venues—the Peter Jay Sharp Theatre and the Leonard Nimoy Thalia (250 95th Street). The organization produces and presents multidisciplinary programming across literature, music, film, theatre, dance, comedy, and family programming. Its flagship Selected Shorts, a radio show and podcast launched in 1985, is broadcast on more than 150 stations nationally and consistently ranks among top iTunes podcasts. Adjacent programming franchises include the Thalia Book Club (author conversations), NT Live international theatre screenings, and themed events such as 'Stories from the City of Immigrants' co-presented with Waterwell and the NY Immigration Coalition.
The organization runs education and community programs including Global Arts: Cultural Literacy & Heritage (serving 16,000 NYC students) and All Write! (a free adult literacy program serving 1,500 adults), alongside the SpaceMakers Ticket Initiative which offers $5 in-person and livestream tickets to historically underrepresented communities. Membership tiers range from $100 (Friend) to $10,000 (Producers Circle), providing ticket discounts, advance sales, and member events.
Revenue is diversified across ticket sales (covering less than 25% of operating costs), annual memberships, donations, venue rentals, and educational programming fees. The go-to-market is direct-to-consumer via physical box office, website, email, and social channels (Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube), with regional distribution through the Selected Shorts on Tour franchise at partner venues. Core strategic partnerships include National Theatre Live (screenings), Barnes & Noble and Strand Bookstore (co-marketed literary events), The Moth (storytelling Mainstage), and National Dance Institute. The organization has no parent company, no funding rounds, and no disclosed M&A activity.
Symphony Space firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Symphony Space
- Legal name
- Symphony Space
- Website
- https://symphonyspace.org
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1978
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Symphony Space is a non-profit performing arts center founded in 1978 on Manhattan's Upper West Side, producing multidisciplinary programming in literature, music, film, theatre, dance, and comedy, and operating education programs that serve over 17,500 students and adults annually.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Symphony Space industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Performing Arts Center
- NAICS
- Performing Arts Companies (7111), Other Performing Arts Companies (71119), Theater Companies and Dinner Theaters (71111)
- SIC
- Services-Amusement & Recreation Services (7900)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Performing Arts Centers & Presenters (Programming/Booking) (MPAGABAM)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Theater & Performing Arts Venue Operations (Playhouses, Opera Houses) (MPAGALAB), Live Music Clubs & Venues (MPAGAIAB)
Keywords
Where Symphony Space is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- New York
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices2 records
Markets served
Symphony Space business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others
Revenue model
- Ticket Sales: Primary revenue from ticket sales for performances and events. The organization notes that ticket sales cover less than 25% of operating costs, indicating heavy reliance on other funding sources.
- Membership Programs: Annual membership tiers ranging from $100 (Friend) to $10,000 (Producers Circle), providing ticket discounts, advance sales, special events, and fee waivers for members.
- Donations and Charitable Support: Non-profit organization relying on donations to supplement ticket revenue and sustain operations across stages and classrooms in NYC.
- Venue Rentals: Spaces available for rental for performances, rehearsals, events, and parties. Includes Peter Jay Sharp Theatre and Leonard Nimoy Thalia.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Silent Clowns Film Series tickets |
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | R.F. Kuang, Taipei Story literary event |
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Kyle MacLachlan, Fictional Selves memoir event |
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Selected Shorts on Tour (International Festival) |
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | The Moth Mainstage |
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Arab Legends music concert |
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Mohsen Namjoo Live in New York |
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Serouj Kradjian and Band featuring Samvel Yervinyan |
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Raphael Ghanem comedy performance |
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Inside The Interestings with Sara Bareilles, Michael Arden & Meg Wolitzer |
| Subscription | Annual | Annual Membership - Friend |
| Subscription | Annual | Annual Membership - Patron |
| Subscription | Annual | Annual Membership - Artists Circle |
| Subscription | Annual | Annual Membership - Directors Circle |
| Subscription | Annual | Annual Membership - Producers Circle |
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | SpaceMakers Ticket Initiative |
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | NDI 50: He Makes Me Feel Like Dancin' |
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Early bird tickets for Open Secrets Live |
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Thalia Book Club: Dave Eggers, Contrapposto |
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Rediscovering Fanon documentary |
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | A G&S Carol: A Live Radio Play |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels6 records
Marketing channels10 records
Symphony Space product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Symphony Space is a non-profit multidisciplinary performing arts center on Manhattan's Upper West Side that produces and presents live programming in literature, music, theatre, film, dance, comedy, and family programming. It operates the Peter Jay Sharp Theatre and Leonard Nimoy Thalia venues for ticketed performances, produces the long-running Selected Shorts radio show and podcast, and runs educational and community outreach programs including Global Arts and All Write!.
Product overview
Symphony Space operates as a performing arts center in New York City offering live events, film screenings, literature programs, and education services. The Adagio Platform (from a separate U.S.-based aerospace company also named Symphony Space) is a modular orbital infrastructure for space payload hosting services. These are two distinct entities sharing the same name: the performing arts center (symphonyspace.org) provides cultural programming including theater, film, literature, music, dance, and comedy events; the aerospace company offers the Adagio Platform for Space-as-a-Service.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Selected Shorts: Flagship radio show and podcast produced by Symphony Space, featuring actors performing short fiction. Broadcast on 150+ stations nationwide and consistently ranks among top podcasts on iTunes.
- Thalia Book Club
- Peter Jay Sharp Theatre
- Leonard Nimoy Thalia
- SpaceMakers
- Global Arts: Cultural Literacy & Heritage
- All Write!
Products and services
- Selected Shorts (Radio Show and Podcast) Long-running radio show and podcast featuring actors performing short fiction, broadcast on 150+ stations nationwide and distributed as a podcast. The series continues with regular live performances tied to ticket sales.
- Thalia Book Club Literary program featuring intimate conversations about compelling books with actor-led readings and audience Q&A sessions, often in collaboration with authors and book retailers such as Barnes & Noble and Strand Bookstore.
- Venue Rentals (Peter Jay Sharp Theatre & Leonard Nimoy Thalia) Rental of Symphony Space's two theater venues — Peter Jay Sharp Theatre and the Leonard Nimoy Thalia — for performances, rehearsals, events, and private parties.
- Global Arts: Cultural Literacy & Heritage Educational outreach program serving 16,000 students annually across New York City, focused on cultural literacy and heritage.
- All Write! Adult Literacy Program Free adult literacy program helping 1,500 adults annually improve literacy skills for personal and professional advancement.
- SpaceMakers Ticket Initiative Accessibility program offering $5 tickets for both in-person and livestream Symphony Space events to individuals from historically underrepresented communities.
- Annual Membership Program Annual membership program with tiers ranging from $100 (Friend) to $10,000 (Producers Circle), providing ticket discounts, advance sales access, member events, fee waivers, and reserved seating benefits.
- NT Live Screenings Screenings of National Theatre Live productions from the UK, including titles such as Les Liaisons Dangereuses, All My Sons, Hamlet, Inter Alia, The Fifth Step, The Audience, and The Playboy of the Western World.
- Silent Clowns Film Series Recurring film series screening classic silent-era comedies such as Laurel & Hardy — The Final Silents, with member, senior, and standard pricing tiers.
- Thalia Kids Book Club Camp Children's book club camp program tied to the Thalia Kids Book Club series, with summer 2026 registration open.
Quantifiable outcome
- Selected Shorts podcast consistently ranks as one of the most popular podcasts on iTunes
- +3 more outcomes
Companies that use Symphony Space
Customer profileNamed customers24 records
Segments5 records
Ideal customer profiles5 records
Symphony Space technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Symphony Space partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
13 partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.
- Barnes & Noble Union SquareminorCollaboration for R.F. Kuang 'Taipei Story' event on September 12, 2026. All tickets include a signed copy of the book purchased through Barnes & Noble.
- Strand BookstoreminorCollaboration for Kyle MacLachlan 'Fictional Selves' event on September 28, 2026. Tickets of $47 or more include a discounted copy of the memoir.
- New York Immigration CoalitioncoreCollaboration as part of NY Proud campaign for 'Stories from the City of Immigrants' event featuring 125 years of immigrant experiences in New York, curated from oral history projects and books.
- Waterwell (Theater Company)coreCo-presenter of 'Stories from the City of Immigrants' evening performance featuring actors Simu Liu, Tramell Tillman, and Sepideh Moafi. Event recorded for broadcast on Symphony Space's Selected Shorts radio show.
- Open Secrets MagazineminorHost venue for Open Secrets Live personal storytelling summit on May 2, 2026 at Leonard Nimoy Thalia. Symphony Space ticket sales for early bird pricing at $40.
- International Festival of Arts & IdeasminorSelected Shorts on Tour collaboration for event in New Haven, CT on June 21, 2026 featuring actors Ophira Eisenberg, Hampton Fluker, Patricia Kalember, and David Strathairn.
- Stony Brook University - The AvramminorSelected Shorts on Tour collaboration at Stony Brook University Southampton location on July 18, 2026 featuring Mike Doyle, Joe Morton, Katrina Lenk, and Meg Wolitzer.
- The Adams TheaterminorSelected Shorts on Tour collaboration at Adams Theater in Adams, Massachusetts on May 23, 2026.
- Asian American Writers' WorkshopminorCollaboration for 'Generation Gap with Wajahat Ali' Selected Shorts event on May 20, 2026 celebrating Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month.
- National Dance Institute (NDI)minorVisiting presenter for NDI 50th anniversary celebration featuring 'He Makes Me Feel Like Dancin' documentary screening on July 26, 2026.
- The MothminorVisiting presenter for Moth Mainstage storytelling event on October 22, 2026 featuring five storytellers sharing 10-12 minute personal narratives.
- Go Hard DanceminorVisiting presenter for 'Once Upon A Time In Harlem SURVIVOR' Season 7 Annual Dance Recital on June 28, 2026 featuring Hip Hop, Tap, African, Ballet, and Contemporary dance.
- National Theatre LivecoreOngoing partnership for NT Live screenings including Les Liaisons Dangereuses, All My Sons, Hamlet, Inter Alia, The Fifth Step, The Audience, and The Playboy of the Western World.
Scale indicators5 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Symphony Space competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- 92nd Street Y (92NY): A multidisciplinary NYC cultural venue presenting talks, music, literary events, and adult education programming. Directly comparable to Symphony Space in format (multi-genre presenter + education arm), geography (Manhattan), and audience profile (culturally engaged urban adults).
- The Town Hall: A historic Midtown Manhattan performance venue hosting literary, music, comedy, and spoken-word programming. Comparable to Symphony Space as a single-venue presenter of diverse performing arts with a similar scale of operation and audience profile.
- Joe's Pub at The Public Theater: An intimate NYC venue within The Public Theater presenting music, literary, and spoken-word programming. Closely comparable to Symphony Space's Leonard Nimoy Thalia in scale and programming mix, targeting similar culturally engaged NYC audiences.
- New York Live Arts: A NYC presenter focused on dance and contemporary performance at a single mid-sized venue. Comparable to Symphony Space as a single-site multidisciplinary performer presenter operating at similar organizational scale.
- Ars Nova: A NYC non-profit presenter of new theater, comedy, and music at a single mid-sized venue. Closely comparable to Symphony Space in scale, mission-driven non-profit structure, and multidisciplinary single-venue presenting model.
Broad incumbents
- Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM): A major NYC performing arts center presenting theater, dance, music, and film across multiple venues. Overlaps with Symphony Space on multidisciplinary programming but operates at significantly larger scale, with deeper endowment and broader geographic draw.
- Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts: The largest NYC performing arts complex, encompassing multiple resident companies across music, dance, and theater. Operates in the same market as Symphony Space but at vastly greater scale and brand recognition; competes for the same donor and audience pools.
- Carnegie Hall: A premier NYC music performance venue presenting classical, contemporary, and crossover programming. Comparable to Symphony Space as a presenting institution rather than producer, but much larger in scale, capacity, and donor base.
- The Shed: A newer NYC arts center at Hudson Yards presenting cross-disciplinary programming across performing arts, visual art, and pop culture. Competes with Symphony Space for the same NYC arts audiences and donor base but operates with substantially larger institutional backing.
- The Public Theater: A major NYC non-profit theater producing and presenting new work across multiple venues including Joe's Pub. Comparable to Symphony Space in non-profit presenting model and audience overlap, but significantly larger in scale, programming volume, and brand recognition.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Symphony Space social profiles
Digital presenceSymphony Space financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Symphony Space leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles1 record
Symphony Space funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Symphony Space M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Symphony Space
What does Symphony Space do?
Symphony Space is a non-profit multidisciplinary performing arts center on Manhattan's Upper West Side that produces and presents live programming in literature, music, theatre, film, dance, comedy, and family programming. It operates the Peter Jay Sharp Theatre and Leonard Nimoy Thalia venues for ticketed performances, produces the long-running Selected Shorts radio show and podcast, and runs educational and community outreach programs including Global Arts and All Write!.
Is Symphony Space a public or private company?
Symphony Space is a private company. It is classified as nonprofit foundation owned and is currently operating.
When was Symphony Space founded?
Symphony Space was founded in 1978. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Symphony Space based?
Symphony Space is headquartered in New York, United States, in the North America region.
How does Symphony Space make money?
Four revenue lines are on record. Ticket Sales are the primary driver. The others are membership Programs, donations and Charitable Support and venue Rentals.
Who are Symphony Space's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are 92nd Street Y (92NY), The Town Hall, Joe's Pub at The Public Theater, New York Live Arts and Ars Nova. Broad incumbents are Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM), Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, Carnegie Hall, The Shed and The Public Theater.
Does Symphony Space have an API?
No public API is recorded for Symphony Space.
What industry is Symphony Space in?
Symphony Space's product category is Performing Arts Center. Its primary akta.pro industry code is MPAGABAM, Performing Arts Centers & Presenters (Programming/Booking), with a secondary code of MPAGALAB, Theater & Performing Arts Venue Operations (Playhouses, Opera Houses). Its NAICS code is 7111 and its SIC code is 7900.