“Peter Pastreich has been named interim executive director of American Conservatory Theater, the first person in that position since Ellen Richard departed as executive director in spring 2015,” writes Lily Janiak in Thursday’s (8/11) San Francisco Chronicle. “The six-month tenure, which could be extended, begins Monday, Aug. 15.… Pastreich brings to his new role more than five decades of experience in arts management, including 21 years as executive director of San Francisco Symphony. He has also served as executive director at St. Louis Symphony Orchestra and Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, in addition to working as a management consultant for orchestras around the globe. Pastreich takes the administrative helm of ACT on the eve of its 50th anniversary season and just over a year after the theater opened its new space, the Strand Theater.… While Pastreich acknowledges that his background is in managing orchestras, not theaters, ‘ACT’s not looking for someone to tell them what plays to produce,’ he says.… ‘They’re looking for someone to get the staff working as efficiently as they can, to get them realizing their own potential and to get them working as a team.’ ”
Posted August 12, 2016
