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The amount that would have been needed to save the 2019-2020 season, according to the statement, is $150,000. Though it’s not a small sum, it’s peanuts in the budget of a larger orchestra. The National Symphony Orchestra’s operating budget is around $36 million. By contrast, the ­National Philharmonic’s entire operating budget in 2010 was $2 million.

The National Philharmonic began life in 1983 as the Montgomery County Chamber Orchestra, founded by Piotr Gajewski, a workmanlike conductor who remains the National Philharmonic’s artistic director. The orchestra changed its name in 2003 as it merged with the Masterworks Chorus and prepared to become a partner orchestra of Strathmore.

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Gajewski, a native of Poland, has been active in the Montgomery County community, making a point of such outreach activities as bringing in every

second-grader in Montgomery County to see the orchestra every year. The National Philharmonic, composed like most smaller orchestras of top freelance players from around the D.C. area, has offered as many as 36 concerts a year, though it has been cutting programming recently in an effort to balance its budget.

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Reached by email on Tuesday, Ferfolia said the orchestra did not have a firm date for its closure, though it will presumably take place before the fall season, which was to have opened Sept. 21 and 22 with an all-Beethoven concert featuring the Eroica Trio.

According to Ferfolia’s statement, the closure will leave 130 administrators and musicians out of work, though it should be noted that no musicians were employed by the orchestra full time. The group’s exit will have a marked effect on the arts and music education in Montgomery County.

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“The National Phil would be delighted if a donor would come forward or funding were to come through for its operations,” ­Ferfolia said.

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