In Tuesday’s (5/25) Daily Sound (Santa Barbara, California), Eric Lindberg reports, “Unless it receives a sizeable donation in the coming weeks, the Santa Barbara Symphony will cancel its traditional free Fourth of July concert. Symphony officials cited a major drop in private funding this year that forced the nonprofit organization to choose between various community programs. By eliminating the annual concert, held in the County Courthouse Sunken Gardens, the symphony stands to save more than $72,000 without cutting into its concert series or music education programs.” Executive Director John Robinson characterized it as the fiscally responsible move, and “noted that while the city has partially supported the concert since its inception in 1991, the city is facing its own budget woes and has cut public funding for the concert during the past two years. … The symphony is now responsible for raising nearly $60,000, representing more than 80 percent of the concert’s total cost. … Symphony officials said they are holding out hope that someone from the community might step forward to offer a gift of $50,000 or more by this Friday to reinstate the concert.”
Posted May 25, 2010
