Merger of Chorales Torpedoed by Fight Over Director Issue

Ten months of negotiations to merge the Pacific Chorale and the Master Chorale of Orange County fell apart Friday over the question of who would lead the combined group.

The president of Pacific Chorale’s board of directors declared Friday that any future talks would depend on the willingness of the Master Chorale to accept a condition that it already has publicly rejected--that Pacific’s director, John Alexander, get the job.

Master Chorale officials promptly rejected the demand.

In a written statement issued Friday afternoon, the Master Chorale’s board of directors said: “By their action in now insisting on ‘John Alexander or no merger,’ the board of the Pacific Chorale has succeeded in terminating the merger negotiations.

Leading Candidates

“From the initial discussions, both merger committees were in complete agreement that both (Master Chorale conductor) Dr. William Hall and John Alexander would be leading candidates in an open search (conducted by an impartial panel) for the position of artistic director. . . . Both boards unanimously voted to support this concept.”

Master Chorale President John Rhynerson added: “We have to stress that William Hall has always been receptive to being a part of the open search, and even though the chorale board is strongly supportive of Dr. Hall, we would never say, ‘Dr. Hall or no merger.’ ”

Rhynerson said his board is “open to (further) negotiations if (the Pacific) can revert to the originally agreed-upon search.” But Pacific Chorale Chairman Anne Nutt reaffirmed her board’s insistence that Alexander be accepted, a condition voted at a board meeting Thursday evening.

The Pacific also has said that it wants any merger to take effect for the 1989-90 season, asserting that it would be “unhealthy” to further “drag out” the proceedings. The Master Chorale wants it delayed until the following year, arguing that it is unrealistic to expect everything to be in place sooner than that. But Rhynerson said Friday that “the timetable can always be negotiated.”

The only thing Nutt and Rhynerson agreed on Friday is that the problems facing both chorales, which led to the start of merger talks, have not gone away.

‘Reasons Are Still There’

“Those reasons are still there--consolidating resources and audience base,” Nutt said.

Rhynerson noted that the Orange County Performing Arts Center, where the groups want to perform, “is not going to reduce (its rental) fees because we’re not merging, obviously.

“High costs remain. Both (chorales) have subscription problems. Both have to boost sales. All the problems we’ve been discussing for the past several months have not gone away.”

But both presidents nevertheless insisted that the organizations are strong enough financially and artistically to go their separate ways.

“We spent a lot of time looking at the pros and cons of our track record,” Nutt said. “We are going to proceed. We have to.”

Rhynerson said his board was “very surprised” by Pacific Chorale’s position. But Nutt insisted that Master Chorale officials knew all along that the chorale supported Alexander.

The Master Chorale is entering its 33rd year, while the Pacific dates back to 1968. Each performed at the 1,500-seat Santa Ana High School Auditorium until the opening two years ago of the 3,000-seat Performing Arts Center. Since then, competition between the groups for ticket sales and for corporate and private support has intensified.

Merger talks began in January. A 12-member merger committee was appointed, with both groups equally represented. Talks reportedly went smoothly until last week when the leadership and timetable issues first surfaced.

Merritt Johnson, president of United Way in Orange County, was asked to facilitate discussions between the two groups, but he dropped out early in the process. Johnson could not be reached for comment Friday.