Bank Pulls Sponsorship of Boston Arts Series

Bank of America will no longer sponsor Boston’s Celebrity Series, a long-running classical music and dance presenter that has drawn Yo-Yo Ma, Luciano Pavarotti, and the Kirov Ballet in years past, reports the Boston Globe.

The North Carolina company acquired Fleet Financial Corporation in 2004. Bank of America continued Fleet’s tradition as chief sponsor of the Celebrity Series, donating $600,000 of the arts series’ $7-million budget. Next year, the bank will give the series $100,000 to ease the transition.

“It is a blow, and we have to tighten our belts,” said Martha H. Jones, executive director of the Celebrity Series. “We knew this was coming. When you get a corporate sponsor, you should immediately plan for when they’re going to go away.”

The Celebrity Series will soon announce to the public that it has started a capital campaign, the newspaper said. The organization has already raised $6-million of its $12-million goal.