Symphony San Jose

“The form 990 is scanned and e-mailed to each trustee on receipt. A hard copy is also delivered to the finance committee members, by hand or federal express, to ensure receipt. A review of the return is scheduled with finance committee members and key staff (general director, general manager) before the tax return is filed; the review may be conducted by conference call. All board members are encouraged to join in and raise questions. Any issues brought up at that meeting and their resolution are reported to the full board during discussion of the return.”

“The symphony's conflict of interest policy is distributed to the board members once each year, or when they join the board if they have missed the annual distribution, and a signed copy is collected from each member, which is kept in the general manager's board files. Board members are required to report to the general manager any activity or relationship that might constitute or give rise to a conflict as defined by the policy. Any such activity or relationship is subsequently reported to and reviewed either by the audit committee (which currently serves as our personnel committee for any unresolved grievances), or by the full board.”

“The compensation of the general director is determined by an ad hoc board committee made up of the board chair and other board members. The committee reviews executive compensation using guidestar, and 990s from comparable nonprofits, taking into account the comparable market rates in the local geographic area. The compensation is voted on and approved at the board meeting in closed session; the process is recorded in the minutes, and a memo notating the results is included in the general director's personnel files. Most recently, the general director's compensations were reviewed in january 2022.”

“The organization's governing documents, conflict of interest policy and financial statements are made available to the public upon request.”

“The symphony teamed up with opera san jose and held a free outdoor concert on labor day weekend to welcome live music back to our community after a long absence due to covid.”

“Due to covid, we had to cancel our education program for elemetary school children, artspark, which is normally perfromed in march every year. About 4,400 children attend this program each year. Artspark brings students to the symphony's concert hall for full orchetstra performances designed to spark children's interest and enthusiasm, and to tie in with their fourth grade curriculum. Concerts and bussing booked by the symphony are free to schools and children. Concerts are led by the symphony's dynamic education conductor and are supported in class with custom music cds and teaching materials. Entire fourth grade attend from each school to ensure that every child has access to the experience and can share it with their peers. We plan to resume artspark in 2023.”