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NASHVILLE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

FULL ORCHESTRA
PHOTO SHOOT
 

A VISUAL REBRAND FOR A NEW ERA

OF CLASSICAL PERFORMANCE

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Creative Direction & Photography: Anna Haas
Location: Schermerhorn Symphony Center
Client: Nashville Symphony

"These photos are the future!"

JEFF VOM SAAL,
NASHVILLE SYMPHONY COO

THE CHALLENGE:

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REIMAGINING THE VISUAL IDENTITY

OF A LEGAGY INSTITUTION

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Every great symphony lives in two timelines simultaneously:

 

  • The centuries-old tradition of classical music

  • The modern cultural marketplace, where attention is scarce and visual identity drives audience engagement.

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For the Nashville Symphony, their photography had remained largely unchanged since the 2019–2020 season. The organization needed imagery that would:

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  • Attract new audiences and donors

  • Reflect the personality of the musicians

  • Maintain the prestige expected of a world-class orchestra

  • Scale across billboards, advertising, editorial, and in-venue installations
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And critically: it had to happen within a fixed marketing budget and strict union scheduling requirements. This is precisely where editorial thinking transforms the result.

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THE DELIVERABLES

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THE FULL ORCEHSTRA:

A definitive portrait of the entire orchestra. ​​​Captured in-camera, not composited, preserving authenticity and prestige. This image now functions as the organization’s visual cornerstone, used across:

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  • Season announcements

  • Major donor communications

  • Advertising campaigns

  • Press coverage

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SECTION PORTRAITS:

Eight stylized group portraits representing each orchestral section. These images create:

 

  • ​Visual consistency across the ensemble 

  • Storytelling opportunities across marketing channels

  • Flexible layouts for digital and print campaigns

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Each portrait maintains the same lighting architecture and visual language, allowing them to function as a unified series rather than isolated photos.

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INDIVIDUAL MUSICIAN PORTRAITS:
Every musician received two distinct portrait styles, allowing the symphony to speak to multiple audiences simultaneously.

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  • Classical & Traditional

    • Timeless, elegant portraiture reflecting the heritage of orchestral music.

    • These images are now displayed as the official framed musician portraits inside the hall.
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  • The B&W Editorial Series

    • A bold, playful, high-contrast portrait style designed for modern marketing.

    • These portraits immediately became a cornerstone of the symphony’s advertising and billboard campaigns, helping the organization appear approachable, vibrant, and contemporary.

CLICK ON A PHOTO TO ENLARGE

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THE PRODUCTION ADVANTAGE
 

1. UNRIVALED TALENT COMFORT:  Many orchestral musicians have had negative experiences with traditional photo sessions—often rushed, impersonal, and technically rigid. Our approach reverses that dynamic. We designed the production environment to be:

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  • Relaxed

  • Collaborative

  • Genuinely enjoyable
     

This psychological shift allowed musicians to appear confident, authentic, and charismatic on camera, a transformation that dramatically elevates the final imagery.

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The result is photography that feels equally at home in:

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  • A major arts publication

  • A city billboard campaign

  • A donor prospectus

  • Social media

 

2. MODERNIZING THE CLASSICAL AESTHETIC:  Most performing arts marketing photography falls into predictable visual patterns. We intentionally avoided that. By bringing editorial magazine sensibility into the project, the imagery achieves a rare balance:​
 

  • Prestigious enough for legacy audiences

  • Dynamic enough for contemporary culture

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3. AGILE, INVISIBLE PRODUCTION: Working with union orchestras requires precision. Our boutique production model ensured:

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  • seamless scheduling across dozens of musicians

  • minimal disruption to rehearsal schedules

  • efficient execution within budget

  • The logistics remained invisible—so the orchestra could stay focused on what matters most: the art.

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STRATEGIC IMPACT

For organizations like the Nashville Symphony, a successful visual refresh does far more than produce beautiful images. It becomes a long-term marketing asset. The photography created for this project now powers:

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• Billboard campaigns
• Digital advertising
• Press materials
• Donor communications
• In-venue installations
• Season announcement campaigns 

 

A single production now fuels years of visual storytelling.

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ROI
 FOR PERFORMING ART INSTITUTIONS

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Organizations that invest in a strategic editorial photography system typically see measurable benefits across four critical areas:

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1. AUDIENCE GROWTH​: Modern, humanized imagery makes classical institutions feel welcoming rather than intimidating. This translates directly to: 

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  • stronger engagement on social media

  • higher click-through rates on digital ads

  • increased ticket conversion from younger audiences

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2. SPONSORSHIP AND DONOR APPEAL​: Major donors and corporate sponsors invest in institutions that look culturally relevant. Sophisticated visual identity signals:

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  • artistic excellence

  • organizational professionalism

  • cultural momentum

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The result is a stronger narrative for development teams pursuing major gifts.

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3. MARKETING EFFICIENCY​:  Without a cohesive image library, arts organizations often spend money on constant ad-hoc photoshoots.

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A properly architected system—like the one created for the Nashville Symphony provides years of adaptable content from a single production. This dramatically reduces long-term marketing costs.

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  • artistic excellence

  • organizational professionalism

  • cultural momentum

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2. CULTURAL RELEVANCE​: Performing arts organizations compete for attention with:

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  • film

  • streaming platforms

  • major sports franchises

  • global entertainment brands

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Editorial-grade photography allows orchestras, ballets, and theater productions to enter that visual conversation with authority.

THE TAKEAWAY
 

​The institutions that thrive in the next decade will not only sound extraordinary,

they will look extraordinary

 

When visual storytelling reflects the energy and humanity of the performers themselves, audiences respond immediately.

 

That is exactly what happened with the Nashville Symphony.

 

And it is exactly what we build for the world’s leading performing arts organizations.

WHAT THE ORCHESTRA IS SAYING

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RENEE PLUGHAUPT,
Principal Librarian

"The photos look incredible. Thank you so much for your creativity & patience in making the magic happen on camera. 

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DAWN GINGRICH,
First Violion

"Thank you so much for your beautiful work and unique lens, for making us all look cool and a tad glamorous and like something you’d want to buy a ticket to see!! It really means so much."

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LOUISE MORRISON,
Second Violin

Thank you for making this as painless as possible—we don’t usually pose, but you made it fun." 

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BRADLEY MANSELL,
Cellist

"You are just the best! I have always hated this process but you made it so easy!"

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