Join our Teaching Artists, Students, Parents, Community Partners and Board of Directors

Celebration Brunch & Concert

Starring Laby Harmony Project Students

Sunday, April 27, 2025

Fundraising Brunch followed by Student Concert

Where: Private estate of Doug Halter and Randy Encinas

Laby Harmony Project uses music training to promote the healthy growth and development of children. The program provides high quality tuition-free music instruction to children in grades K-12, currently serving over 170 students in Ventura year-round. By collaborating with students, families, and local partners, and together with our generous supporters, we are building a stronger, healthier, and more musically engaged community.

About Betsy Chess

Born into a pioneer Santa Paula ranching family, Betsy Blanchard Chess grew up with a desire to understand and preserve Ventura County agriculture and the rich history of the region. She has a keen awareness and respect for the contributions of the past as they enrich the future. She continues her family’s deep commitment to community involvement and support.

She has written extensively on Ventura County agricultural and business history and in 1988 became editor and publisher of The Broadcaster Magazine for the Farm Bureau of Ventura County. In 2004, the magazine was expanded to include Santa Barbara County and renamed Central Coast Farm & Ranch. She retired from the magazine in 2013.

Betsy has had a concurrent career as an arts manager and volunteer. She was Executive Director of New West Symphony, interim Executive Director for the Rubicon Theatre and Director of Development for the Museum of Ventura County. Her volunteer associations are extensive. She is a past president of the Rotary Club of Ventura, past president of the Ventura Music Festival and currently sits on the board of the Museum. She is also a member of the SeeAg board of directors which promotes agricultural awareness among young people in Ventura and Santa Barbara counties. She has also served as a Cultural Affairs Commissioner for the City of Ventura.

In 2017 Betsy joined the board of the Limoneira Company, only the third woman on the board in the company’s 125-year history.

In 2006 Chess was honored as A Woman of Vision by the Ventura County Interfaith Ministerial Association, In 2014 she was named Ventura County Volunteer of the Year by the Association of Fundraising Professionals of Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties and was one of the recipients of the Ventura County Star’s 25 over 50 award. She has received multiple Paul Harris Fellowship Rotary awards.

In 2021, Chess published a memoir, Daughter of the Land: Growing up in the Citrus Capital of the World, in which she writes about the history of her family and the citrus industry in Ventura County. In 2023, she was appointed by the Governor to the board of the Ventura County Fair.

Chess spent the pandemic years at home writing and learning to bake with her Portuguese Water Dog, Arrow, a striped barn cat named Cubby and six backyard chickens.

Join Us as We Witness the Musical Trajectory of Students’ Lives

Laby Harmony Project helps shape the musical trajectory of students’ lives at critical developmental periods. From Pre-Orchestra (K-2) into Musicianship — from choosing their “forever” instrument to entering an intensive program of ensemble training — we are here for every child from Kindergarten until they graduate High School. You can be too!

You can sustain this program for their future

Choose a gift level and pledge that amount for the next three years.
Consider a Legacy Gift by creating a bequest for the Laby Harmony Project.

What your gift will do:

• YOU can provide “Forever” instruments for students to take home in grades 4 through 12.
• YOU can make sure students have sheet music at their appropriate level to perform and to practice.
• YOU can ensure that we keep our office space in Ventura at Bell Arts Studios.
• YOU can help our teaching artists keep their skills up-to-date and ready to address every student’s needs.