Arts center gets new chairman

Elia Powers

When the Orange County Performing Arts Center debuts the Renee and

Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall, Samueli Theater and education center

next September, Michael Gordon will be in a leading role.

Gordon, chairman of StoneCreek Capital in Irvine and a member of

the center’s board of directors since 1998, was officially named

chairman of the board this week.

He was nominated by outgoing chairman Paul Folino, who will leave

the post after his three-year term ends this summer. The board of

directors unanimously supported Gordon for the position.

“I was very pleased to be given this responsibility,” said Gordon,

a Laguna Beach resident. “I have a great interest in the arts and

symphonic music. It’s going to be an exciting few years, with the

expanded educational programming and new facilities.”

A past chairman of the Pacific Symphony Orchestra, Gordon will

officially assume his duties as Performing Arts Center chairman at

the board’s Aug. 9 retreat.

“It’s a great time to pass the baton,” said Folino, the head of

Costa Mesa-based Emulex Corp., adding he is planning to remain active

on the board. “He’s been so involved in strategic planning for the

new concert hall. Mike’s familiar with the operation, so it should be

a smooth transition.”

Folino said Gordon’s financial expertise was one of the reasons he

tabbed him to be his replacement.

Gordon is a member of the center’s steering committee, which

watches over construction projects for the new concert hall. He

serves on the executive committee as vice chairman of the bond

financing committee. And he is a lead donor in center’s Building on

the Vision capital campaign, which helps finance the new facilities.

Keeping a balanced budget and completing the capital campaign for

the new facilities are the most pressing concerns in his first year

as chairman, Gordon said.

Folino said the center has raised about $125 million, with nearly

$70 million remaining to be raised.

Last week, board members and center executives celebrated the

halfway point in the construction of the 2,000-seat concert hall and

500-seat theater.

Gordon said there is much work to be done.

“The final year before the opening is always a hectic time,”

Gordon said. “This opening is such a major event; it’s going to allow

us to expand on what’s going on in this county.”

Gordon has spent more than a quarter century in Orange County. A

New Jersey native, he received his bachelor’s degree in economics

from the Wharton School of Business at the University of

Pennsylvania. He received his master’s in business administration

from Boston University.

Prior to moving to Southern California, Gordon was with the

Gillette Co. in Boston for 17 years. A certified public accountant,

he has spent 25 years in the private equity business as the chairman

of StoneCreek.

Gordon joined the Pacific Symphony Orchestra board of directors in

September 1994, serving as chairman from July 2001 to June 2004.

Folino said Gordon’s track record on the center’s board makes him

qualified. Performing Arts Center Executive Vice President Judy Morr

said center executives give Gordon an “enthusiastic endorsement.”

“They’ve chosen well,” she said. “Mike is a careful and

considerate person. He certainly knows all his lines.”