California’s Oakland East Bay Symphony, Oakland Symphony Chorus, and Oakland Youth Orchestra announced that they are joining forces to form a new alliance, East Bay Performing Arts, after the three boards of directors approved the partnership in November. The merger will not affect programming for the 2009-10 season. The three organizations had been pursuing the idea for more than a year, with the goal of offering enhanced opportunities for year-round programming, administrative efficiency, artistic synergy, and collaboration. Tom Schunn, president of the Oakland Youth Orchestra board, stated, “OYO has always had a strong connection to OEBS, especially with Michael Morgan, our artistic director, and Bryan Nies, our principal conductor. Additionally, many OYO alumni have been regular members of the symphony. We can now look forward to even more educational and performance opportunities for our young musicians as a result of this exciting merger.” Over the next few months the legal steps to complete the merger of OEBS, OSC, and OYO will take place. All three groups will then operate as part of EBPA under OEBS’s current 501(c)(3) status. All board members of the three groups will be invited to join the board of EBPA to oversee the new organization, and each organization will maintain its own advisory board. Staff positions will not be eliminated due to the consolidation. The integration of staff will occur over the next two years.
Posted December 10, 2009
