SYMPHONY GOES EAST FOR NEW CHIEF EXECUTIVE

Louis G. Spisto, director of marketing for the Pittsburgh Symphony, has been named executive director for the Pacific Symphony, officials for the Santa Ana-based orchestra announced Wednesday.

Spisto, who will assume his new post June 15, said he was “very excited” to be joining the 8-year-old symphony and to help spark its growth.

“I’m very excited with the opportunities with the Pacific Symphony,” Spisto, 31, said Wednesday in a telephone interview from Pittsburgh, Pa. “It (the Pacific Symphony) has experienced dramatic growth, and I feel this is a great opportunity for me to be part of a great growth experience.

“While I’ve enjoyed being a part of a large organization such as the Pittsburgh Symphony,” Spisto said, “this will be a chance for me to do a bit more in terms of running an organization and helping the Pacific Symphony grow.”

The new director will be responsible for administration, development, marketing and long-range planning activities for the symphony association. “All those duties typical of an executive,” he said.

Spisto has held his post with the Pittsburgh Symphony since 1984. Before assuming that job, he was director of operations and development for the Performing Arts Center (Cal Performances) at the University of California, Berkeley, from 1981 to 1984.

A native of New York City, Spisto holds a master’s degree in arts administration from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. In addition to his post at Pacific Symphony, he will become president of the advisory board for the Center for Arts Administration at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Spisto is the fourth person to hold the top post at the Pacific Symphony since 1983. Robert Elias held the job for six weeks before resigning in 1983 to become executive director of the Pasadena-based Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra. Topper Smith served as general manager of Pacific Symphony for 13 months before leaving in 1985 to become orchestra manager of the L.A. Chamber Orchestra.

Wesley O. Brustad, who succeeded Smith, held the executive director’s post for three months before resigning in 1985 to take the same job with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra.

Since Brustad’s resignation, the executive directorship had gone unfilled until Wednesday, although Lawrence T. Duckles was appointed artistic administrator in September, 1986, and Jim Medvitz was named general manager in March, 1987.

The Pacific Symphony was founded in 1979 and has grown to present more than 60 concerts each season on an annual budget of $3.1 million. The orchestra has completed its first season of concerts in the new $70.7-million Orange County Performing Arts Center.