In Sunday’s (2/20) Pasadena Star-News (California), Janette Williams writes, “A surprise $500,000 matching gift, the largest ever from the Pasadena Symphony Women’s Committee, could put the orchestra back in the black next year, Chief Executive Officer Paul Jan Zdunek said. ‘We believe we will be successful in matching it by the end of the year,’ Zdunek said before the announcement at Saturday’s matinee concert at Ambassador Auditorium. … The gift combines $400,000 bequeathed to the committee by the late Beebe Oliver Nuetzman—a 20-year member and long-time Pasadena Unified School District teacher—with the $100,000 proceeds from the 2010 Holiday Look In Home Tour. It will go toward the $3.2 million Pasadena Symphony and Pops operating budget for 2011-2012, Zdunek said. … Like many arts organizations, the Pasadena Symphony and Pops has struggled in the economic downturn. The orchestras have undergone a drastic financial overhaul, staff cutbacks—including the departure of long-time music directors George Mester and Rachael Worby—and around a $1.5 million budget reduction since Zdunek was hired in early 2009.”
Posted February 22, 2011
