Flooded Symphony Returns With Violinist Perlman - WSMV Channel 4

New Years' Eve is a time of renewal and celebration. On Friday, for the first time in about eight months, the Nashville Symphony is back home at the Schermerhorn.

"It's really like the grand opening of the hall all over again," said President Alan Valentine. "It's like Christmas repeated itself a week later for us."

The rehearsal is the first time the musicians have played on stage since the May flood. Valentine said he was heartsick when he saw the 4-year-old hall flooded with 24 feet of water. Cleanup has been expensive: almost $40 million.

"We had $10 million in insurance coverage," said Valentine. "We, believe it or not, got significant assistance from FEMA. We expect, when it's all said and done, to have a $4 million gap that we'll have to raise locally."

Despite the flood, the music never stopped. And now, there's the grand celebration with violinist Itzhak Perlman, known for his score to "Schindler's List." He'll play that Friday as well as a selection of popular favorites, commemorating the night that floodwater was replaced with champagne.

"We built this hall to last 300 years. It's going to take a lot more than a thousand-year flood to knock us down so far that we can't get up real fast," said Valentine.