Disney veteran Jay Rasulo to lead L.A. Philharmonic board

Jay Rasulo is going from the executive offices of the Walt Disney Co. to the top board position at Walt Disney Concert Hall.

Rasulo will become chairman of the board of the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the end of the week, the orchestra is expected to announce on Thursday. He has served on the orchestra’s board of directors since 2006 and has held positions including chairman of the orchestra’s marketing committee and vice chairman of the executive committee for the Hollywood Bowl.

He will succeed Diane B. Paul, who began her tenure as the L.A. Phil’s chairwoman in 2013.

Rasulo worked at Disney for nearly three decades, rising through the ranks to become chairman of the parks and resorts unit, and most recently, chief financial officer.

He also served as the chairman and chief executive of Euro Disney in France.

Rasulo said that he hopes his new role at the orchestra will help him to “continue to engage the board and promote the goal’s of the orchestra,” which would include extending its presence “into our community and the world music community.”

A New York native, Rasulo said his first exposure to classical music was as a youth attending concerts by the New York Philharmonic “in the back row and loving it.” He has lived in the L.A. area since the 1980s and currently resides in Beverly Hills.

These days, orchestras face the challenge of making themselves relevant online, he said. “We live in a digital age. Orchestras and providers of this wonderful form of live entertainment have to figure out how to grow and evolve in the digital age. It’s an opportunity as much as a challenge.”

He said the L.A. Phil’s legacy of artistic excellence in live performance must be upheld. At the same time “legacies are something to be respected but not revered in a way that we can’t evolve.”

Rasulo left Disney last year following a power struggle that saw him passed over for Disney’s chief operating officer role, which went to Thomas Staggs. Rasulo declined to comment about his departure.

Since then, he has worked as an investor and advisor in technology start-ups. He said the majority of his projects are in media but that they “all utilize new technology to reach marketplaces that have traditionally not taken advantage of the digital space.”

The L.A. Phil began its new season on Tuesday with a jazz-themed gala concert at Disney Hall led by music and artistic director Gustavo Dudamel.

The orchestra said it recently added four board members: Gregory Adams, executive vice president and group president of Kaiser Foundation Hospitals and Health Plan; Ellen Goldsmith-Vein, CEO of the Gotham Group, a management and production company; Sarah Ketterer, CEO of Causeway Capital Management; and Christopher Rising, president and COO of Rising Realty Partners.

In seasons ahead, the L.A. Phil will be planning for its 100^th anniversary. The orchestra was established in 1919.

“It’s premature to get into details,” said Rasulo, but added “it will be a celebration that incorporates both the great venues from which we perform but also embraces the city of L.A. in a big, great celebratory way.”

david.ng@latimes.com