THE cash-strapped National Symphony Orchestra has closed down after it was unable to find the R10-million it needs to continue. NSO leader Caius Oprea said on Sunday they have been informed that the institution has run out of money. “We were told that we may even not be paid for this month, meaning that we have worked for some time without receiving any compensation,” he said. According to NSO chairman Don MacRobert the cash crisis was precipitated by the recent and unexpected withdrawal of sponsorship from a local mining house due to adverse conditions in the industry, one of the organisation’s major funders. The organisation, which is a section 21 company, raises about R2-million annually from concert ticket sales and needs yearly running capital of R15-million. It now faces a R2-million deficit.