Symphony Drained Of $500K

Peninsula Symphony of Los Altos, Calif., will open its season as scheduled later this month, but is struggling to regroup.

The missing money represents nearly all of its endowment and operating funds, according to the San Jose Mercury News.

“The accounts essentially were cleaned out,” symphony spokesman Larry Kamer told the paper. “We’ve got a lot of shock and anguish right now. But we also have a lot of people coming forward to help. The community is going to be more important than ever right now.”

Police and the symphony are reportedly keeping mum about the investigation, and Kamer would only say that Steve Carlton, the symphony’s executive director since 2010, is no longer affiliated with the organization.

The Oct. 25-26 season opener with Irish pianist John O’Conor and the Masterworks Chorale will go on as scheduled, but the 65-year-old symphony is reeling.

“To lose an endowment is catastrophic, but to lose your operating fund would be devastating for any arts organization,” Andrew Bales, Symphony Silicon Valley general director, told the Mercury News. “The endowment gives you a cushion against hard times, but the operating budget pays your bills. …I’m distraught to hear about this. What a shame.”

The Peninsula Symphony went public with the loss Oct. 10.

The symphony’s board of directors became suspicious when it received an overdraft notice.

“All of the accounts had been cleaned out by someone who had access to them and credit cards,” Kamer told the paper. “This never should have happened, and safeguards are being put in place to make sure it doesn’t occur again.”

Kamer said the symphony has raised about half the money it needs to proceed with a full schedule.