BANK EXECUTIVE WILL HEAD THE PACIFIC SYMPHONY ASSN.

John R. Evans, vice president of an Orange County branch of First Interstate Bank of California, has been elected the new president of the Pacific Symphony Assn., symphony officials announced Tuesday.

Evans takes the helm as the orchestra enters its second season at the Orange County Performing Arts Center in Costa Mesa with a surplus of about $70,000, executive director Louis G. Spisto said.

Evans, 42, of Irvine succeeds Michael N. Gilano in the two-year post.

Vice president and manager of First Interstate’s Orange County corporate branch, Evans is a 1968 graduate of the University of Utah and served on the executive committee of the Utah Symphony’s board of directors from 1983 to 1986.

Since its founding in 1979 by music director Keith Clark, the Santa Ana-based Pacific Symphony has grown to 60-plus concerts a year on an annual budget of $3.1 million.