Festival Napa Valley

"They understand the ethos and spirit of what we do..."

For over 25 years, impresario Charles Letourneau has produced highly successful performing arts projects, including the renowned Festival Napa Valley, Tokyo’s Mostly Mozart Festival, Italy’s Tuscan Sun Festival, and Florida’s Festival of the Arts Boca. Festival Napa Valley, billed as “the 10 best days of summer,” brings free and affordable access to world-class symphony, opera, ballet, chamber music, and jazz performers in California’s storied Wine Country every July. The nonprofit event attracts over 10,000 attendees each year and involves hundreds of donors, underwriters and sponsors including wineries, resorts and restaurants.

“Everything we do in the performing arts is nonprofit by definition,” explains Letourneau. “Like all nonprofits, we had started small but soon outgrew our capacity to handle the finances. It was getting incredibly complex and too big for our existing staff.”

It was suggested that he reach out to YPTC instead who could bring the highest professional finance expertise to the festival. “We’re a cyclical business and there was no need for a six-figure, full-time employee for an event that takes place for a couple of weeks every year.”

Your Part-Time Controller came aboard. “We were off to the races immediately. It was like night and day,” he recalls. “It was a seamless, easy transition. They immediately integrated with our team.

“YPTC is my favorite company,” he says. “It’s a brilliant idea. They understand the ethos and spirit of what we do, that we’re not trying to maximize profits but want to do something good for society by bringing the performing arts to all. The personalities of the people we work with are wonderful. We have a million questions and YPTC is very patient with us and always answers our questions promptly. We are completely on the same page. I recommend YPTC to any other nonprofit that is in a similar situation.”