SA Symphony Hires New CEO

July 22, 2008 ·David Green was hired in 2005 to be the president and CEO of the San Antonio Symphony.

But there was another candidate for that position who made an impression. And now when Green is moving on, that other candidate, Jack Fishman, got the call.

“They still remembered me. I must have done something right at that interview back then,” Fishman told Texas Public Radio.

“And they gave me a call and asked if I’d still be interested and I said “absolutely” and so here I am,” he said.

Fishman has served as Executive Director of the Long Beach Symphony since 2000 and has an extensive background in music and symphony management.

He began his professional career as a double bass player at the Florida Symphony in Orlando – then Fishman got what he calls his lucky break.

“I actually fell down and broke my hand,” Fishman said.

Fishman said he wasn’t able to play again at the same level – but he wasn’t ready to leave the symphony world.
“That’s why I call it my lucky break. It fits my personality better to be an orchestra manager than a bass player,” he said.

“If you are in an orchestra especially if you are a bass player you have this narrow focus of playing that part perfectly and fitting in with the orchestra. But what I love about leading an orchestra is that you are constantly doing different things. There are artistic decisions that you have an impact on. You are doing fundraising. You are doing marketing. You are working with the staff and being head administrator. You get to work with lots of volunteers, lots of board members, lots of conductors, lots of musicians. So everyday is different, Fishman said.

“People ask me if I miss playing – and the answer is well, bass playing for me was a tool to get in the orchestra and mainly that’s what I loved about it. Where as now, I’m still in the orchestra world. I’m just in a different seat,” he said.

Brian Petkovich of the San Antonio Players Association said Green will be missed but the hiring of a CEO who is a former profession musician is the next step in the symphony’s evolution.

“David Green was a very quick study as far as learning the industry and learning what needed to be done. That being said David Green had the business experience in order to really grow the symphony and get it ready for someone like Jack Fishman to really take it to the next level. And I think that’s really the whole motivation behind what we are seeing,” said Petkovich.

Pekovich sits on the symphony board and plays the bassoon in the orchestra. He said the musicians were consulted about this change in leadership. And Pekovich said he is happy about the efforts being taken to create a seamless  change over for the symphony.

“David Green is transitioning on to a more governance roll as a member of the board and Jack Fishman is being brought in as an industry manager and I think without David Green’s business expertise the organization wouldn’t have grown this quickly to allow that to happen. So I think it’s a positive thing,” he said.

Green said he accomplished his goal of getting the Symphony on a strong economic footing. He also oversaw a new labor contract for the musicians that avoided a costly work stoppage.

Also under Green the symphony appears to have secured a future permanent home with the Bexar County Center for the Performing Arts.

And because Green will remain as a member of the symphony board Green will continue to have a presence with the orchestra.

“I’m not about to walk away from it. I’m committed to it and I’m committed to helping it continue to grow,” he said.

Fishman will officially take over the symphony on September 1, and one of his first duties is to recruit a new music director for the orchestra, which is a process he also headed at the Long Beach Symphony.

“When you list the job description it’s practically an undoable job,” Fishman said. “You are looking for super human musical talents, brilliant leadership, community spirit, great public speaking, ability to relate to donors, vision about music and what an orchestra can be in a community. And it’s incredibly hard to find,” he said.

Fishman also has experience in the other big project that faces the orchestra the design of the Performing Arts Center. He worked at the Jacksonville Symphony in Florida when it was designing its performing arts center.