‘ARTISTIC ADMINISTRATOR’ NAMED BY S.D. SYMPHONY

Edmundo Diaz del Campo, former assistant conductor of the Orange County Pacific Symphony, has been named artistic administrator for the San Diego Symphony, officials announced this week.

Diaz del Campo, who will assume his new position in October, said, “I am very happy.”

“I am leaving (Pacific Symphony) because I see a better opportunity with the San Diego Symphony,” Diaz del Campo, 40, said. “It is an institution that is considered a major orchestra.”

The new artistic administrator will be responsible for giving pre-concert lectures, serving as liaison with artists and as music consultant to Executive Director Wesley O. Brustad and conducting one of a proposed three-concert International Festival series.

Speaking for Brustad, who is out of town, Kathy McDonald, assistant to the executive director, said Thursday: “‘Wes was thrilled to get him. He had worked with (Diaz del Campo) before and was absolutely delighted to have him come here.”

Diaz del Campo was appointed the first assistant conductor of the Santa Ana-based Pacific Symphony in June, 1985. Among his projects during his two-year stint with the Pacific Symphony was the creation of a Hispanic committee for the arts and also a community orchestra. The orchestra, which met for the first time in June, 1987, has been invited to perform at the Tijuana Cultural Center.

He is a veteran instrumental and choral music educator who has served as assistant conductor of the Conservatory of Music Orchestra of Mexico City and as cultural minister of that city’s Fine Arts Commission.

In February, Diaz del Campo also is scheduled to conduct three concerts by the Orquesta Sinfonica del Estado de Mexico, based in Toluca. Three programs with the Orquesta Sinfonica de Xalapa, based in Veracruz, will be given on dates to be announced later.

The San Diego Symphony will open its new season on Nov. 13.