New Director for Symphony Is Announced

Wesley O. Brustad, executive director of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, has been chosen as the new executive director of the San Diego Symphony, it was announced Tuesday.

Brustad, who has 16 years of arts management experience, will replace Richard Bass, who is resigning effective Aug. 15. Brustad will assume his new post on Sept. 1, said Symphony President Herb Solomon during a Tuesday press conference at Symphony Hall.

During his one year with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra and five years before that as executive director and general manager of the Spokane Symphony Orchestra, Brustad, 42, became known for strengthening programs and for eliminating cumulative indebtedness.

He will take charge of an orchestra beset with fiscal and labor problems. During February and March, the symphony was on the brink of bankruptcy, and despite a 10-day emergency fund-raising campaign that raised $2.5 million, the symphony still projects a year-end operating deficit of at least $200,000.

Contract negotiations stalled earlier this month after musicians balked at a management proposal to cut the pay of orchestra members and at a plan whereby Music Director David Atherton would select principal players without the traditional audition process. The current contract expires Aug. 31.

Musicians are particularly upset that management wants to impose a pay cut on them while giving Atherton a $100,000 raise. Atherton’s contract stipulates that his $138,000 salary be increased to $237,500 in 1987, $270,000 in 1988 and $312,000 in 1989.

“We’re just looking for a reasonable pay and benefits package,” players’ representative Greg Berton said. The minimum salary for orchestra members is $472 a week for 45 weeks a year. The symphony has proposed cutting the season to 38 weeks.

The talks are scheduled to resume Monday.

Brustad, who signed a three-year contract, declined to comment on the status of the negotiations, saying he was not well-enough informed about the problems. He did say that the “emotional level” of community support for the orchestra and its financial stability are the two areas on which he most likely will focus.

He said colleagues around the country encouraged him to apply for the San Diego job. Brustad cited the symphony board leadership, the new Symphony Hall and Atherton’s artistic leadership as factors in his decision to leave Los Angeles, where he was “very happy.”

Berton praised Brustad as “a very capable gentleman.” Berton, a bassist, was on the search committee.

“He’s shown he’s ambitious and energetic, and has had great success in putting the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra back on its feet,” Berton said. “We expect he will have great success here.”

Brustad’s experience includes a year as assistant director of the Ohio Arts Council and three years as the executive director of the South Carolina Arts Commission.

The Tyrone Guthrie Theatre in Minneapolis hired Brustad as vice president to manage fund raising, touring and policy development matters in 1974.

As managing director of the Tennessee Performing Arts Foundation and Center in Nashville from 1975 to 1977, Brustad oversaw the construction of a $42-million complex, including a museum, three theaters, and television and recording studios. He was also artistic and producing director of a regional theater in Nashville.

The new executive director also operated his own multimedium entertainment firm, from 1970 to 1978, managing talent and producing commercials and recordings.

In Spokane, Brustad bolstered the regional orchestra, nearly doubling its budget, to $1.35-million from $700,000. In the process, he signed Gunther Schuller for a year as principal guest conductor.

Former Spokane Symphony President C. Robert Ogden said of Brustad: “I think you’re getting an intelligent and aggressive man. He’s a guy who knows what he wants. He’s going to push people and make things happen.”

Although the Spokane Symphony had incurred a $250,000 debt, when Brustad left it in 1985 after five years it had no debt and a $1.35-million endowment, which had tripled in size during Brustad’s tenure, Ogden said.

Brustad eliminated a $300,000 debt at the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra through cost cutting and a strong marketing campaign, he said, in less than a year after taking over the reins last fall.

“He seems to have great expertise on his staff at marketing and development, something severely lacking here,” Berton said. “I understand he’ll be bringing some of his staff here.”