The $1 million endowment is courtesy of board member John Griffin, a local developer, and his wife Hazel. "I believe that cultural activities need to have endowment to service," Griffin told the paper. "Hopefully we can build ours into a $10 million endowment. Nobody likes to be the first one to give, but somebody had to bite the bullet."

The endowment will provide annual revenue of $50,000 to the orchestra, according to its president, Andrew Bales.

Bales also announced that the SSV had balanced its $1.8 million budget, thanks in part to strong attendance in the orchestra's first season at the newly renovated California Theatre.