LINDSAY DEUTSCH
Pacific Coast Business Times
August 26, 2005

New West Symphony garners corporate funds

By Tony Biasotti, Staff Writer

At age 15, Lindsay Deutsch was already an accomplished violinist, with a decade of training. But when she walked into her audition with the New West Symphony in Thousand Oaks, she faced a full professional orchestra for the first time.

Deutsch nailed the audition and was picked for the New West Symphony’s Young Artists Concerts. Five years later, she is one of the world’s top violinists of any age.

Playing with New West Symphony, she said, was a turning point in the route from prodigy to professional.
“I felt like my playing really started to bloom after that,” Deutsch said. “It was one of my first experiences playing with an orchestra. … It was so important for my career and for my confidence, especially.”

The Young Artists program is part of the symphony’s mission to keep classical music thriving in Ventura County. New West Symphony holds concerts at both the Oxnard Performing Arts Center and the Countrywide Performing Arts Center in Thousand Oaks. It also educates county schoolchildren about classical music with special educational, interactive concerts.

“The New West Symphony is quite a success story,” said Rick Newberger, the president of the symphony foundation’s board of directors. “Our audience grows every year.” A few thousand people buy tickets every year, and hundreds of people donate beyond the price of the tickets, he said.

The symphony’s annual budget of $2.75 million is supported through a combination of ticket sales and charitable donations, said Ken Hopper, New West Symphony’s executive director. Donations make up 60 percent to 65 percent of the annual budget, he said.

New West Symphony is trying to keep the crowds coming by fostering a love for music in the next generation. Between 18,000 and 20,000 students from the region’s elementary, middle and high schools also visit every year. And each summer, the s selects a handful of musicians from Ventura County, the Conejo Valley and the western San Fernando Valley to play a series of concerts with the orchestra.

Two of the Young Artists winners have gone on to permanent spots in the orchestra – and then there’s Deutsch, the biggest success story of them all, Hopper said.

In December, she will return to New West Symphony for a pair of concerts, this time as a featured soloist playing Vivaldi and Piazzolla.

Deutsch said her earlier work with New West Symphony helped her develop her own personal style. New West Musical Director Boris Brott believes classical music is meant to be enjoyed, Deutsch said, and she feels the same way.

“He talks to the audience, he gets them involved,” she said. “It’s great to see. It’s the kind of performers like Boris who will bring classical music back. … I feel the same way. I feel like I’m an entertainer.”