Bank Gives $10,000 to County Symphony

The Ventura County Symphony drew $10,000 closer to the $150,000 it must raise to match a grant by the National Endowment for the Arts with a donation announced Monday from Santa Barbara Bank & Trust.

The bank, which recently opened three branches in the western Ventura County, is donating the money to promote the symphony and the bank’s arrival in the county.

Under the terms of the $50,000 grant from the NEA, the Ventura Symphony must raise about $100,000 by this July and another $50,000 by July, 1996. The symphony was one of 38 organizations chosen to receive the NEA’s advancement grant and the only one in California.

So far, the symphony has raised about $20,000 toward its $150,000 goal. The money will be used to expand the symphony’s concert series and to fund programs in local schools.

Executive Director Patricia Hesselbach said the future of the symphony and its workers is still uncertain. In March, the symphony announced that it would merge with the Conejo Symphony to form the New West Symphony by the end of the year but has not announced what will become of the musicians.