Nashville, Tenn. — The Nashville Symphony Association and Symphony Ball 2025 co-chairs Grace Awh and Sarah Ingram announced today that the prestigious 2025 Harmony Award will be co-presented to legendary musical tastemaker T Bone Burnett and to The Grand Ole Opry, the long-running country music radio showcase, which turns 100 this year. Burnett and special surprise guest performers from the Opry will be honored during the 41st annual Symphony Ball on Saturday, December 13, 2025, at Schermerhorn Symphony Center in Nashville.
Presented annually by the Nashville Symphony since 1986, the Harmony Award recognizes individuals who exemplify the harmonious spirit of Nashville’s music community.
“Our 2025 Harmony Award honorees bring the culture and spirit of Nashville to audiences around the world,” said Symphony Ball co-chairs Grace Awh and Sarah Ingram. “T Bone Burnett put Nashville musicians on the silver screen with the O Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack, and in our living rooms with the TV series Nashville. The Grand Ole Opry has been the country’s premier country music radio showcase for 100 years. Our honorees keep country music and Nashville in Americans’ hearts and imaginations for many decades. We are thrilled to recognize T Bone Burnett and the Opry with this well-deserved honor.”
“With a career spanning more than five decades, T Bone Burnett has left an indelible mark on the music and entertainment industries through his exceptional work as an artist, performer, producer, and tireless supporter of artists’ rights,” said Nashville Symphony CEO and President Alan D. Valentine. “His work in film and television has helped elevate many deserving Nashville artists on the national and international stage, and we are honored to recognize his contributions.
“The Grand Ole Opry is Nashville’s best-known and longest-running cultural institution,” Valentine continued. “Every Opry broadcast brings together traditional country favorites and contemporary superstars. That resonates with the mission of the Nashville Symphony to present the full range of instrumental musical expression, from classical standards to avant-garde new works to contemporary pops concerts. We salute all the members of the Opry as they celebrate their 100th anniversary.”
Burnett is a Grammy- and Oscar-winning musical tastemaker with deep Nashville roots. With 50 years of experience in music and entertainment, he has an unparalleled reputation as an innovative artist, songwriter, producer, performer, film and concert producer, record company owner and artists’ advocate. His extensive and successful film work has included multiple collaborations with filmmakers the Coen Brothers, notably producing the soundtrack for O Brother, Where Art Thou?, which helped bring Nashville artists and traditional roots music to the world’s attention. His musical vision has inspired some of our most illustrious musicians, including, most recently, producing Ringo Starr’s country album Look Up.
“Music has been used since the beginning of time to teach everything — language, mathematics, geography, history, ethics,” said Burnett. “I am most happy and grateful to take part in the crucial work that the Symphony Ball and the Nashville Symphony do in unlocking the language beneath language — the universal language.”
The Grand Ole Opry is the longtime home of country music where artists and fans gather, in person and virtually, to celebrate and be part of the country’s past, present and future. Founded in Nashville in 1925 and today the longest-running live broadcast show in the world, the Opry strengthens its roots by constantly evolving. Opry members are country music’s most emblematic artists, and the show regularly showcases top new talent and rising stars.
“For 100 years, the Opry has been about sharing the story of country music and the people who make it,” said Dan Rogers, Senior Vice President and Executive Producer of the Grand Ole Opry. “Being recognized by the Nashville Symphony and sharing this honor with T Bone Burnett is a real highlight in this milestone year. It’s a nod to every performer, musician, and fan who’s been part of the Opry family.”
The Symphony Ball is Nashville’s premier winter social event and one of the Nashville Symphony’s annual signature fundraisers. Since its inception in 1985, the Ball has raised more than $15 million for the Symphony, sustaining the organization’s mission of inspiring and engaging an evolving and growing community with extraordinary live orchestral music experiences.
Past recipients of the Harmony Award include Randy Travis, John Esposito, Kix Brooks, Lady A, Maren Morris, Keb’ Mo’, Kelsea Ballerini, Toby Keith, Steven Tyler, Béla Fleck, Miranda Lambert, Faith Hill and Tim McGraw, Trisha Yearwood, Dolly Parton, Brad Paisley, Keith Urban, Amy Grant, LeAnn Rimes, Michael W. Smith, Mike and Linda Curb, Lyle Lovett, Steve Winwood, Vince Gill, Wynonna and Naomi Judd, Chet Atkins, Martina McBride, Rascal Flatts, Carrie Underwood, Taylor Swift, and Marty Stuart.
About the Nashville Symphony
The Nashville Symphony inspires and engages audiences across Middle Tennessee with extraordinary live orchestral music experiences. Founded in 1946, the Symphony is celebrated for its commitment to contemporary American orchestral music, innovative programming across genres, and a prolific recording legacy, earning 14 GRAMMY® Awards and 27 nominations. Today, the Symphony performs in the world-class, acoustically superb Schermerhorn Symphony Center, and reaches nearly 550,000 Middle Tennesseans annually through its free and low-cost education and community programs. Globally, the orchestra connects with almost 13 million listeners worldwide through its recordings, broadcasts, and streaming activities. The Nashville Symphony is a nonprofit organization dedicated to enriching its community and inspiring the next generation of music lovers. Learn more at nashvillesymphony.org.
About the Grand Ole Opry
The Grand Ole Opry is the home of country music where artists and fans gather, in person and virtually, to celebrate and be part of the country's past, present and future. Founded in Nashville in 1925 and today the longest-running live broadcast show in the world, the Opry strengthens its roots by constantly evolving. The Opry’s members are country’s most emblematic artists, and the show regularly showcases country music’s top new talent. The Opry welcomes legions of fans to visit the Opry House in Nashville, Tennessee – Music City, USA – to experience one of the 3-7 live shows it hosts per week; take a backstage tour; listen to live broadcasts on opry.com and wsmonline.com, SiriusXM Willie’s Roadhouse, or its flagship home WSM Radio; and watch Opry Live on Saturday nights and Opry content all week long on Circle Country. The Grand Ole Opry is part of Opry Entertainment Group, a subsidiary of Ryman Hospitality Properties (NYSE: RHP).
About T Bone Burnett
With 50 years of experience in music and entertainment, T Bone Burnett is an innovative artist, songwriter, producer, performer, film and concert producer, record company owner and artists’ advocate. Born in St. Louis, Missouri, Burnett grew up in Fort Worth, Texas where he first began writing songs and making records as a teenager.
Burnett has won an Academy Award, a Golden Globe, a BAFTA and 13 Grammys. He’s worked and collaborated with Bob Dylan, Elton John, Robert Plant, Alison Krauss, B.B. King, Tony Bennett, k.d. lang, Elvis Costello, The Civil Wars, Taylor Swift, Ryan Bingham, Steve Earle, Leon Russell and many more. His work in film over the past 30 years includes The Big Lebowski, O Brother, Where Art Thou?, Cold Mountain, The Hunger Games, Walk The Line, Inside Llewyn Davis and Crazy Heart. In television, he was Executive Music Producer and Composer for three seasons of HBO series True Detective and the first season of ABC television series Nashville. In 2014, he produced an album of lost Bob Dylan lyrics titled Lost on the River: The New Basement Tapes, and an accompanying documentary for Showtime. He was nominated for an Emmy in 2017 for his work with Jack White and Robert Redford on American Epic, a multi-part, multimedia project exploring the history of music in America, and he was Executive Music Producer for Netflix series Godless in 2018.
His work as a recording artist continues with an ambitious three-album series in collaboration with drummer Jay Bellerose and keyboardist Keefus Ciancia, The Invisible Light. Solo album The Other Side was Grammy-nominated for Best Americana Album Grammy in 2024, and Burnett has been on his first concert tour since 2006 to support that album.
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