Angry Norwalk Officials Cut Off Symphony Money

On June 15, a near-capacity crowd at Excelsior High School stood for a full 10 minutes to applaud the “Gershwin Spectacular” concert by the Master Symphony Orchestra and its new music director, Peter Nero.

Basking in the concert’s apparent success, City Council members subsequently agreed to appropriate $46,000 for more concerts in the 1985-86 fiscal year. It was the third consecutive year the city supported the orchestra, which previously was sponsored by Cerritos Community College. In 1983-84 and 1984-85, the orchestra had received a total of $96,000 from the city as well as a free office at City Hall.

But less than two months after the Gershwin concert, City Administrator Ray Gibbs and Recreation Director Bob Avenatti have cut off all funding for this fiscal year, which began last month. Meanwhile, two City Council members say the city should sever all ties with the orchestra and boot the musicians out of City Hall.

The turnabout came after city officials said they learned that of 1,800 persons who attended the Gershwin concert, 1,200 were there through the courtesy of free tickets handed out by members of the orchestra and its board of directors. City officials said that because ticket sales were poor, symphony officials apparently decided to “paper the house” rather than play to empty seats.

The large number of complimentary tickets meant that the city, which contributed $26,000 to the concert in exchange for expected ticket revenues, will absorb a loss of about $17,800 for the Gershwin concert, city officials said.

The losses have prompted two City Council members, Mayor Marcial (Rod) Rodriguez and Mayor Pro Tem Lou Banas, to call for the ouster of the symphony orchestra from City Hall, with Banas saying that the city should seek a criminal investigation.

“My support for any funding for the orchestra has ceased,” Banas said.

“I want a full investigation, perhaps by law enforcement authorities, as to what happened,” he said. “I think there was a possibility that they (the orchestra) misused public funds.”

Banas said that he has been told that in addition to the ticket giveaway, “significant monies were taken in at the door that to date have not been accounted for.”

Banas said he would meet with other council members to discuss whether to request an investigation by the district attorney, although Rodriguez said he favored an investigation by city officials.

Councilmen Bob White, a member of the orchestra’s board of directors, and Cecil Green declined comment on the symphony issue. Council member Peg Nelson could not be reached for comment. The council is scheduled to discuss the Gershwin concert finances as well as future funding for the orchestra at its Aug. 26 meeting.

“How did they think they could pull something like this over on our community?” Rodriguez asked. “I just don’t have any use for people like that who take advantage of other people’s money.”

City officials said they reviewed concert finances with Ada Steenhoek, chairman of the Master Symphony board of trustees, two weeks ago and concluded that 1,200 of the 1,800 tickets were free. But Steenhoek said Tuesday she had “no idea” how many free tickets were distributed by orchestra officials and members or of the number of tickets sold for the concert.

“We don’t have an exact number,” she said, adding, “Ticket sales are an unfair judgment of the evening. When you bring culture into an area you have to realize that you are service oriented.”

“We had a successful concert,” Steenhoek said. “I have nothing to hide and nothing to be ashamed of.”

She could not be reached for further comment regarding allegations made by Banas. The orchestra’s general manager, John Barcellona, is on a concert tour with another orchestra in the state of Washington and could not be reached for comment.

In the earlier interview, though, Steenhoek had blamed foul-ups at the gate the night of the concert and “poor” service provided by Ticketmaster, which also sold Gershwin concert tickets, for fewer-than-expected ticket sales.

Ticketmaster Corp. denied Steenhoek’s claims that the firm had provided poor service.

“When an event does not go well the only thing I’m not accused of is the Lindbergh kidnaping or the sinking of the Lusitania,” said Fred Rosen, chairman of the board of Ticketmaster Corp. “Clearly we did nothing wrong.”

Steenhoek said she was not worried about losing Norwalk as a base for the Master Symphony.

“Norwalk’s been very good to us,” Steenhoek said. “But if they don’t see the benefit of being our base, there are cities that do. I’ve had three other cities wine and dine me. They’d love to have us. We’re not the losers no matter what takes place. We now have the visibility we need.” Of Norwalk, she said: “We can only bring them glory.”

The professional 85-member orchestra was founded in 1978 by Philip Westin, chairman of the music department at Cerritos Community College. The orchestra performed numerous classical concerts throughout the Southeast area until 1983, when the college, facing reduced revenues in the wake of tax-cutting Proposition 13, reduced funds for the orchestra’s concerts that once amounted to $600,000 a year.

Westin resigned as music director in March, 1984, and Barcellona was selected last spring by the orchestra’s board of directors to take over as general manager. In March, the orchestra signed Nero as music director. Nero, a conductor for the Philly Pops orchestra, is a composer and arranger who has recorded 50 albums, among them the Grammy-winning “Summer of ’42.” Under Nero, the orchestra that once played the classics was going to become the “Boston Pops of the West,” Barcellona said in an interview in April.

Barcellona had said there were “a lot of marbles” riding on the June 15 concert, which city officials said was a chance for the orchestra to show it could contribute to its own financial support.