N.J. report has sour notes for PSO chief

Panel critical of his role in instrument purchase

Friday, December 24, 2004

By Mackenzie Carpenter, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

An investigative report on the controversial acquisition of rare string instruments last year by the New Jersey Symphony includes harsh words for the organization's former managing director, Lawrence Tamburri, now president and CEO of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra.

The report, prepared by three members of the New Jersey Symphony's board and issued last week, said the "Golden Age Collection" of 17th- and 18th-century instruments was an asset to the orchestra. But it also said staff members, trustees and musicians were wrong, during negotiations for the collection, not to have told the full board that some appraisers 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 pet-care magnate Herbert Axelrod, after he and the orchestra had announced the collection's value as $50 million; the difference could have been a tax deduction for Axelrod. The committee had told the board the instruments probably were worth about $26 million, not revealing the low-end valuation 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, including Tamburri.

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 Axelrod was under investigation by federal authorities over other instrument transfers.

"Larry did not do anything, and did not even tell the instrument committee," Baroni told The New York Times. Baroni, like the other authors of the report, is a member of the symphony board but was not involved in the purchase. Tamburri telephoned an official at the Smithsonian Institution, to which 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, 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 told The Times, adding that Tamburri would probably have been fired if he were still there.

Tamburri, who has repeatedly refused to be interviewed on the controversy, declined to address Baroni's criticisms in a statement issued yesterday by the Pittsburgh Symphony.

"I applaud the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra for undertaking this exhaustive internal investigation to further explain the process for acquiring the Golden Age Collection. While the report found flaws in the process, it concluded that the opportunity to acquire such valuable instruments was in the best interest of the organization.

"Everyone who knows about the excellence of the NJSO hopes that this scrutiny will permit them to put this issue behind them and get back to the business at hand -- making beautiful music with their new music director, Neeme Jarvi."

Tamburri supported.

The Pittsburgh Symphony's president, Dick Simmons, did not return calls for comment, but orchestra officials referred a reporter to several NJSO board members supportive of Tamburri.

One of them, Scott Kobler, a NJSO board member and an attorney who said he assisted -- pro bono -- in the acquisition, said many board members were dumbfounded to hear of Baroni's comments, which did not reflect the report's overall positive conclusion. He also said board members he had talked to "took umbrage" with Baroni's assertion that Tamburri eventually would have been dismissed.

Tamburri should be commended for having overseen the acquisition, Kobler added.

"It was a great deal for us. Were there problems? Yes, there were, and they were addressed. Larry did a great job for us, and I'm jealous you have him in Pittsburgh."

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. We're focused on getting things right so the organization functions better in the future."

The orchestra's primary response has been to hire a consultant to review the way its board operates. That report is due next month, Wood said.

Parsonnet, who was a member of the instrument committee -- and with Tamburri, a driving force in the acquisition -- disagreed that Tamburri deserved particular blame.

"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."

Parsonnet, a prominent figure in New Jersey philanthropic and cultural circles, was a social acquaintance of Axelrod's. He acknowledged that the instrument committee felt pressured by 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. "I have no guilt. I know I could have done things better with better experience."

Case draws U.S. Senate interest

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 Axelrod's gifts to both the symphony and the Smithsonian.

One of the key issues in the committee's eyes is whether the orchestra did anything to help 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 Axelrod. But in a letter to Sen. Charles E. Grassley, the Iowa Republican who is chairman of the Finance Committee, Woods noted that 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."

After his deal with the New Jersey Symphony, Axelrod became caught up in a separate tax fraud investigation unrelated to 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.

Parsonnet said he was worried about long-term damage to the NJSO'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."