Metropolitan Opera General Manager Peter Gelb has responded to the news that the Met Opera Guild has been dissolved.

Gelb told the Associated Press, “It really is the result of several years of declining economic fortunes. What they’re suffering is what many non-profits have been suffering, which is a situation where the earned revenues and donations are not enough to keep up with the expenses.”

The comments come a day after the Met Opera Guild announced it was scaling back its work and noted that Opera News would be cease to be published. The Guild also noted that it would discontinue its luncheons and Opera News Awards.

It also noted that Opera News would get a section in Opera Magazine.