2 Other Orchestras Seeking Stability

New West Symphony is not the only Ventura County orchestra struggling to establish itself. Two new ensembles hope to draw music lovers disenfranchised by the contentious 1995 merger of the Ventura County and Conejo symphonies.

The 2-year-old Conejo Valley Symphony Orchestra is doing well, according to music director Howard Sonstegard, who was the principal trumpet player and assistant conductor for the Conejo Symphony Orchestra when it was dissolved in 1995 after 34 years.

“People didn’t want to lose the community’s own orchestra,” Sonstegard said. “We’re growing every single performance.”

He said the fledgling orchestra--composed entirely of professional musicians--is supported by 500 “hard-core supporters” who have raised $250,000 since it was formed.

Operating on an annual budget of $125,000 and offering four concerts yearly, the Conejo Valley Symphony Orchestra is scheduled to perform April 18 at Ascension Lutheran Church in Thousand Oaks, its home venue. The program will feature piano soloist Thaddeus Wolfe and include works by Franz Berwald, Armas Jaernefelt, Edvard Grieg and Jean Sibelius.

Not doing as well in the fund-raising arena is the Channel Islands Symphony Orchestra, also formed in reaction to the New West merger.

“We’re functioning at a slightly lower level than we’d like to be,” said Bruce Walker, oboe player and treasurer of the Channel Islands orchestra’s board of directors. The group’s goal is to produce more concerts than the one it plays each Fourth of July at Ojai’s Libbey Bowl, Walker said.

Also of musical note in the region is the demise of the Santa Susana Symphony, which played at the Simi Valley Cultural Arts Center. In January, the symphony--formed before New West--folded when conductor Phillipe Fanjeaud moved his family back to France. The 5-year-old organization was in good fiscal health, say arts center officials.