Orange County can count on its home-grown ensemble Pacific Symphony to get its music fix—from Beethoven’s concertos and Brahms’ sonatas to soundtracks from Phantom of the Opera and renditions of Kenny G’s contemporary jazz.
Pacific Symphony can count on local companies for support, a reflection of the crossover between OC’s business community and the arts through the past 30-some years.
The orchestra currently operates on a budget of $18.5 million. About 40% of that is generated from ticket sales, 5% from contract services, and another small slice from its endowment fund, according to John Forsyte, president of the symphony.
“The remainder is really philanthropy,” Forsyte said.
Gifts come from a mix of individual donors, family foundations and businesses. Orange County-based companies and others with significant business here are prominent on the roster of givers that help keep the symphony and its dozens of highly skilled musicians playing.
“We don’t make money on our concerts,” Forsyte said. “We’re not really scalable, either. You can’t do a Brahm’s piece with 20 players—we just need to underwrite the activity. So it’s crucial that we find partners to invest in that way.”
Fullerton Roots
Pacific Symphony was established in 1978 in Fullerton. California State University, Fullerton, and a group of community leaders in North OC got it started with an initial budget that was roughly $10,000, according to Forsyte.
The budding symphony had played in a handful of venues—including the Plummer Auditorium in Fullerton, Knott’s Berry Farm in Buena Park and Santa Ana High School—before its 2006 move to its current home at Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa.
It now presents more than 100 concerts a year and operates a number of educational programs, reaching roughly 275,000 individuals.
The symphony—led by Director Carl St. Clair who joined as conductor in 1990—also plays at Verizon Wireless Amphitheater in Irvine and Soka University of America in Aliso Viejo.
The group has produced several commercial recordings and has twice won the Award for Adventuresome Programming from the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers. The orchestra also has commissioned well-known composers, including Chen Yi, who has written for famed cellist Yo-Yo Ma.
“In many ways, the symphony is emblematic of the extraordinary development of Orange County over the last 40 years,” Forsyte said. “And the growth of the orchestra is quite a testimony of the generosity of OC and its desire to have high-quality art that’s not only brought from other places, but indigenous art. We did not experience any significant drop-offs in corporate giving during the recession.”
Supporters
There’s a solid base of support from various foundations established by successful local business executives—a list that includes renowned investor and former Major League Baseball Commissioner Peter Ueberroth, manufacturer Ron Simon, and Stacey Nicholas, the former wife of Henry Nicholas, cofounder of chipmaker Broadcom Corp.
Among corporate supporters that have provided steady contributions over the years is Farmers & Merchants Bank in Long Beach, which has 12 out of its 21 offices in OC.
Farmers & Merchants has increased its support to the symphony this season by nearly 15% to $80,000.
The bank began supporting the organization about 10 years ago, in part to build the bank’s brand in OC, said Henry Walker, president of the bank, who serves on the orchestra’s board of directors.
“I think it creates appreciation from our customer base toward us,” Walker said. “That would be the most tangible benefit to us. It also identifies us in a very public way with our community.”
The bank currently funds the symphony’s Family Musical Mornings program, a sponsorship that began when previous backer Mervyns closed its California operations prior to eventually filing for bankruptcy in 2008.
“The art form is important to keep alive and to introduce to the younger generation,” Walker said. “That’s what Musical Mornings does. It’s a short snippet of longer classical concerts, but it’s done in a format that’s interesting and inspiring to the youth.”
Hoag
Newport Beach-based Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian became a prime backer of the orchestra in 2010, when it took on the role of presenting sponsor for the symphony’s Summer Festival. The partnership—part of the $1 billion hospital operator’s bid to enhance its image in OC—was forged just before Hoag opened its Irvine campus that fall.
“There is a deeper relationship than just that Pacific Symphony was playing in Irvine at the Verizon Amphitheater, and we had a new hospital in Irvine,” said Richard Afable, Hoag’s chief executive and a Pacific Symphony director. “This comes across a common purpose that exists between an organization like Hoag and the symphony, whose purpose is to enrich the human spirit through music.”
Costa Mesa-based networking equipment maker Emulex Corp. also has been supporting the symphony for decades, “generally through” Chief Executive Jim McCluney and his predecessor Paul Folino, according to Forsyte.
Among other backers in the business community: Aliso Viejo-based chipmaker Microsemi Corp., Disneyland, South Coast Plaza.
Pacific Symphony also rides the airwaves on the radio, supported by funding from U.S. Bancorp, a Minneapolis-based holding company of U.S. Bank, with about $340 billion in assets.
Executive Vice President Sean Foley, who oversees the bank’s Southern California commercial banking division, including 78 branches in OC, also serves on the orchestra’s board of directors.
“The bank was interested in the arts, but I also am a closet musician, mostly guitar and piano,” Foley said. “I think the obvious benefit to our clients is that we can offer to take them to the concerts. That’s one benefit. But more than that, we’re interested in the symphony and education in the arts.”
Youth Programs
Pacific Symphony’s roster of musical training initiatives includes Pacific Symphony Youth Orchestra and a program dubbed Class Act, which provides local elementary schools with lessons and performance opportunities. Participating schools for the current season include Chapman Hills Elementary in Orange and Crown Valley Elementary in Laguna Niguel.
“Pacific Symphony is a leading force in enriching the school curriculum throughout its educational programming,” said Emulex’s McCluney, who’s on the executive committee of the symphony’s board. “Furthermore, having a great symphony orchestra in our community is also a magnet for recruiting the very best talent who value the quality of life.”
