Symphony Space

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.

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

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

• Performing arts center
• Literary programs
• Arts education
• Live event venue
• Community arts programming

Headquarters

HQ city

New York

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. Donations and Charitable Support: Non-profit organization relying on donations to supplement ticket revenue and sustain operations across stages and classrooms in NYC.
4. Venue Rentals: Spaces available for rental for performances, rehearsals, events, and parties. Includes Peter Jay Sharp Theatre and Leonard Nimoy Thalia.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels6 records

Marketing channels10 records

Core 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

Named customers24 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

13 partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• Barnes & Noble Union SquareminorGTM or Marketing PartnerCollaboration 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 BookstoreminorGTM or Marketing PartnerCollaboration 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 CoalitioncoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration 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)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-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 MagazineminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerHost 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 & IdeasminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorSelected 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 AvramminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorSelected 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 TheaterminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorSelected Shorts on Tour collaboration at Adams Theater in Adams, Massachusetts on May 23, 2026.
• Asian American Writers' WorkshopminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration 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)minorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorVisiting presenter for NDI 50th anniversary celebration featuring 'He Makes Me Feel Like Dancin' documentary screening on July 26, 2026.
• The MothminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorVisiting presenter for Moth Mainstage storytelling event on October 22, 2026 featuring five storytellers sharing 10-12 minute personal narratives.
• Go Hard DanceminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorVisiting 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 LivecoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorOngoing 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

Direct 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

• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UC9a1PYCrvrWseZVjPhu10Pg
• Facebookfacebook.com/symphonyspace
• Instagraminstagram.com/symphonyspacenyc
• TikToktiktok.com/@symphonyspacenyc
• Xx.com/symphonyspace
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/symphony-space

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Symphony Space