Orchestra lays off catering, dining staff

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – The financially strapped Nashville Symphony has laid off its catering and dining staff.

The Tennessean (http://tnne.ws/19fDRBy ) reported symphony CEO Alan Valentine and Board Chairman Ed Goodrich announced late Monday what they called a “difficult decision.” They said affected workers were told Monday that their jobs would end Aug. 4. The number of people being laid off wasn’t disclosed.

A June 28 deadline is approaching that could result in foreclosure on the orchestra’s Schermerhorn (SKUR’-mur-horn) Symphony Center.

A group of lenders is owed $82.3 million from a 2004 bond issue used to construct the concert hall.