Pacific Symphony Chief to Take Post in Detroit

SANTA ANA — Louis G. Spisto, the executive director of the Pacific Symphony whom arts leaders credit with putting Orange County’s major orchestra on firm financial and artistic footing, announced Monday that he will leave the organization in March to take a similar post with the Detroit Symphony.

“I’m certainly leaving with some ambivalence in terms of the great friendships I have here,” Spisto, 41, said at a news conference. “But it’s the right step for me at this stage of my career.”

Orchestra leaders said they will form a search committee this week to find a successor.

Dean Corey, executive director of the Philharmonic Society of Orange County, which sponsors local visits by orchestras and other art groups, praised Spisto’s marketing, fund-raising and management skills. He’s “one of the most talented executive directors in the country,” Corey said.

“Orchestras around the nation have had difficulty, but [Spisto] has kept Pacific Symphony healthy and he’s kept it vital, and I don’t think they’ll be able to replace him exactly.”

Under Spisto’s leadership during the past 10 years, the orchestra has more than doubled its budget, from $3.1 million to the current $7.5 million, allowing it to pay its musicians more. He led a $5-million fund-raising campaign that in 1993 erased a $658,000 deficit three years ahead of schedule and created the orchestra’s first endowment, which now totals about $3.5 million.

Spisto also oversaw a two-year search for a new music director that culminated in the hiring in 1990 of Carl St.Clair, whose latest contract extends through 2001.

Among other accomplishments, Spisto helped the orchestra land recording projects with Sony Classical, commissioned works such as Elliot Goldenthal’s “Fire Water Paper: A Vietnam Oratorio,” and launched a composer-in-residence program. He initiated radio broadcasts of Thursday concerts and established the Pacific Symphony Institute training program at Cal State Fullerton.

Despite its growth, the Pacific cannot yet employ its members year-round, putting it a notch below Detroit and other world-class orchestras such as Boston and New York. As a middle-tier orchestra, however, it has drawn national attention through its recordings.

In his new job, Spisto will succeed Mark Volpe, who was recently named managing director of the Boston Symphony. Improving ticket sales in Detroit will be his immediate task, Spisto said. He will oversee a $22-million budget and a minimum of about 80 classical concerts annually.

“Detroit is in the big league,” he said. “Its fortunes have dramatically risen in the last years. They’ve been balancing budgets. They’ve pulled the endowment from the $20-million to the $40-million level. They’ve got some challenges, but they are the challenges I can work with.”

Soon after arriving at the Pacific Symphony in 1987, Spisto faced a contentious resignation battle with founding music director Keith Clark, who since 1979 had presided over a part-time orchestra that performed primarily in the 1,500-seat Santa Ana High School auditorium.

The Pacific now plays about 20 classical concerts each year in the 3,000-capacity Segerstrom Hall at the Orange County Performing Arts Center, plus pops concerts, an outdoor summer series and a children’s music series.

Spisto left a marketing job with the Pittsburgh Symphony to become the Santa Ana-based orchestra’s fifth executive director in as many years. One predecessor stayed just six weeks; the high turnover stemmed from conflicts with Clark and his supporters on the board.

Spisto’s turn soon came, as he and Clark tangled over administrative control. Amid highly publicized accusations and rebuttals, board members and orchestra players took sides over a move to force Clark out.

“I seriously doubt that if Lou hadn’t won by one vote [10] years ago that there would be a Pacific Symphony here today,” board President Janice Johnson said.

The only other major publicized flap during Spisto’s tenure occurred in April when 54 musicians--nearly three-quarters of the orchestra--signed a petition asking Spisto to reconsider his firing of principal trombonist William Booth for absences. Spisto stood firm, though many musicians said the decision deeply affected morale.

Spisto’s departure is not a surprise. He had been a finalist in the Orange County Performing Arts Center’s recent search for a new president. When Jerry E. Mandel won that post in May, arts observers expected Spisto to move on.

Music director St.Clair, who chose Spisto as his best man and as godfather to a son due in February, said his friend leaves an important legacy.

“Because of his wonderful years here, we will be able to lure and attract very competent, high-level candidates to fill his shoes,” he said.

Tom Tomlinson, former executive director of the Orange County Performing Arts Center, seconded the praise.

“During Lou’s tenure,” Tomlinson said, “the Pacific Symphony matured into the organization it is today, and it remains a successful contributor to the arts community in Orange County.”

Spisto was first choice among five finalists for the Detroit job, a list whittled down from about 20, said Alfred R. Glancy III, chairman of the Detroit Symphony board. The search began early in January.

“The three things I would underscore about Lou were his energy, his creativity--and by that I mean his willingness to think outside the traditional box of arts or symphonic leadership--and, thirdly, his skills in marketing,” Glancy said.

The Pacific Symphony’s search committee will consist of nine people, including Spisto, St.Clair and at least one orchestra member. The other members will be announced Thursday. The target date for a hire is June, Johnson said. The board will run the organization from March until the new director arrives.