New Jersey Symphony

December 23, 2004
An Orchestra Takes Stock After a Gift Gone WrongBy DANIEL J. WAKIN

Leaders of the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra are divided over an investigative report that failed to assign personal blame for deceptions that turned the orchestra's acquisition of a collection of rare string instruments into an embarrassment. They also differ over just how damaging the episode will be.
A report prepared by three board members and issued last week said that a committee of trustees, staff members and musicians was wrong, during the negotiations for the collection, not to have told the full board that some appraisers had valued it at far less than the donor said it was worth - and that there were doubts about some of the instruments' authenticity.
The orchestra ultimately purchased the 30 violins, violas and cellos early last year for $17 million from a pet-care magnate, Herbert Axelrod, after he and the orchestra had announced its value as $50 million; the difference could have been a tax deduction for Mr. Axelrod. The committee had told the board the instruments were probably worth about $26 million, not revealing the low-end evaluation of $15.3 million.
Both the chairman of the orchestra, Dr. Victor Parsonnet, and its president and chief executive, Simon Woods, said in interviews this week that there was no reason to assign individual blame or hold anyone accountable for the events. But Bill Baroni, one of the authors of the internal investigative report and a member of the New Jersey State Assembly, was sharply critical of the conduct of some current and former symphony executives.
Mr. Woods, who was hired in April, after the acquisition of the collection, said, "There's not going to be any kind of personal witch hunt," adding, "We're focused on getting things right so the organization functions better in the future."
His predecessor, Larry Tamburri, helped lead the effort to acquire the instruments and was singled out by several of the report's authors for failing to properly investigate rumors that Mr. Axelrod was under investigation by federal authorities over other instrument transfers.
"Larry did not do anything, and did not even tell the instrument committee," said Mr. Baroni, who, like the other authors of the report, is a member of the symphony board but was not involved in the purchase. Mr. Tamburri telephoned an official at the Smithsonian Institution, to which Mr. Axelrod had also made a donation of instruments publicly valued at $50 million, and was told that the talk of an investigation was merely a rumor, Mr. Baroni said.
"That's the kind of important piece of information that at least you need to bring to the board and instrument committee," he said. He said Mr. Tamburri would probably have been fired if he were still there.
Mr. Tamburri, who left New Jersey to become the president of the Pittsburgh Symphony, has repeatedly refused requests to comment on his role, issuing only a brief statement that praised the report, noting that it found flaws in the process but concluded that the acquisition was a good idea.
Mr. Baroni also noted that the orchestra's general manager, Susan Stucker, a member of the instrument committee, was present with two violin experts at a six-hour meeting in August 2002 at the Newark Museum at which one of the experts made an independent evaluation of the collection. The report said that "few, if any" notes were taken, and the expert phoned in his evaluation after spending only 10 minutes with each instrument.
"It's a profound lack of due diligence when you don't take notes," Mr. Baroni said.
Ms. Stucker did not return a telephone call seeking comment.
Dr. Parsonnet, who was a member of the instrument committee - and with Mr. Tamburri, a driving force in the acquisition - disagreed that Mr. Tamburri deserved particular blame, adding that Ms. Stucker had his full confidence.
"I certainly wouldn't want to blame anyone," he said. "I'm an amateur at this. I'm a heart surgeon. I'm not a violin collector."
Dr. Parsonnet, a prominent figure in New Jersey philanthropic and cultural circles, was a social acquaintance of Mr. Axelrod's. He acknowledged that the instrument committee felt pressured by Mr. Axelrod - and he left open the possibility that his relationship with him may have played a role in the acquisition. "It may have contributed, but I'm not sure," he said, adding: "I have no guilt. I know I could have done things better with better experience."
The orchestra's primary response has been to hire a consultant to review the way its board operates. Her report is due next month, Mr. Woods said.
No outside agency has conducted a review of the symphony's handling of the acquisition. But its internal review drew some skepticism from the staff of the Senate Finance Committee in Washington, which is looking into whether donors to nonprofit organizations are using inflated gift values as tax dodges. The panel has sought information about Mr. Axelrod's gifts to both the symphony and the Smithsonian Institution.
One of the key issues in the committee's eyes is whether the orchestra did anything to help Mr. Axelrod claim an improper tax deduction.
The symphony's internal report said the orchestra had protected itself from a criminal investigation by making the "wise decision" not to formally acknowledge a gift from Mr. Axelrod. But in a letter to Senator Charles E. Grassley, the Iowa Republican who is chairman of the Finance Committee, Mr. Woods noted that Mr. Axelrod never requested the Internal Revenue Service form that would have recorded the gift.
A Republican staff member of the Finance Committee questioned how praiseworthy that course of action was. "It's not a case where a charity made a deliberate effort not to" document the gift, he said. "They were just not asked to do it." The staff member said that public comment had to come from its chairman, Senator Grassley, a member of whose staff said he was not available to answer questions.
After his deal with the New Jersey Symphony, Mr. Axelrod became caught up in a separate tax fraud investigation unrelated to any instrument deals. He fled to Cuba and then Europe, was arrested in Germany and extradited. Earlier this month, he agreed in a plea bargain not to claim a deduction for the gift.
Dr. Parsonnet said he was worried about long-term damage to the orchestra's image - the very thing it was trying to burnish with the acquisition of the instruments. "Most people tell me they think it won't hurt," he said. "They think it will go away."
Mr. Woods said that giving to the orchestra's annual fund from individuals, corporations and foundations for the fiscal year ending next June was 28 percent ahead of where it was this time last year.
Mr. Baroni was less optimistic. At a neighborhood Christmas party on Sunday evening he was chatting with a donor to the orchestra, he said. "I feel I've been cheated," she told him.
And at a Christmas concert that same day by the Trenton Symphony Orchestra, a Santa Claus came onstage to offer the orchestra its Christmas present, a set of Stradivarius violins, Mr. Baroni recounted. The conductor replied: "No thanks. We're very happy with the instruments we have."
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