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New Director Tapped For Florida Orchestra

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By KURT LOFT | The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 21, 2007

TAMPA - The area's largest performing arts center announced a changing of the guard with the retirement of executive director Leonard Stone.

Although Stone was expected to leave no earlier than the end of the upcoming season, a search committee found a candidate ahead of schedule. Replacing Stone will be Michael Pastreich, who served as the top manager for 10 years of the Elgin Symphony Orchestra in Illinois.

Michael Pastreich

Pastreich will be the president and chief executive officer of the orchestra, which operates with a $10 million budget. He begins Oct. 2, two days before the opening of the orchestra's 40th anniversary season.

"I am extremely excited about coming to the Tampa Bay area," Pastreich said. "Meeting with the board, musicians, staff and community made it clear that the orchestra is a wonderful organization with great opportunities in front of it."

Stone, 72, ends a career in orchestra management spanning 40 years. He said the time to retire is right, and he plans to spend time with his wife, Debbie, at their Harbour Island home.

"I'm going to have to retrain my body clock on how to sleep in," said Stone, who was paid about $150,000 a year. "I don't know how to do that."

Stone joined the orchestra in 1999, coming from the Calgary Philharmonic. His immediate goal was taking the orchestra "from survivability to sustainability." However, the orchestra each year faced considerable challenges in balancing its budget and performing in Tampa, Clearwater and St. Petersburg. Most orchestras perform in one city in one hall.

"I have to admire anyone who can manage an orchestra because it's got to be one of the most difficult jobs in the world," said Art Keeble, executive director of the Arts Council of Tampa-Hillsborough County. "I don't know of many orchestras that suffer the obstacles that The Florida Orchestra faces, having three homes. It's got to be an awkward situation because they don't belong to anyone."

Reporter Kurt Loft can be reached at (813) 259-7570 or kloft@tampatrib.com.

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