Commissiona No Longer in the Running : Music: Romanian-born conductor’s release from guest appearances signals that he is not a candidate for Pacific Symphony directorship.

The Pacific Symphony on Thursday released Romanian-born conductor Sergiu Commissiona from guest appearances with the orchestra in May, effectively ruling him out as a candidate in the orchestra’s search for a new music director.

Commissiona, a former music director of the New York City Opera, recently was named music director of the Vancouver Symphony. But there remained the possibility that he could accept both that position and, if offered it, the Pacific directorship.

Pacific spokesman John MacElwee said Thursday that technically, Commissiona’s status as a candidate in Orange County has not changed, as the Pacific’s search committee has not yet met to discuss the issue.

But Larry Duckles, the Pacific’s artistic director, said that he thinks Commissiona has been “pretty much precluded from serious consideration.” He noted that the Vancouver orchestra has “a pretty extensive season” and that Commissiona has other professional commitments beyond that.

A statement issued by the Pacific described Commissiona’s release from the upcoming concerts as amicable.

The Pacific has been eyeing guest conductors as candidates for music director since last year, when its board voted against renewing the contract of founding music director Keith Clark.

No replacement for Commissiona’s May 23 and 24 concerts has been named. Whether the substitute conductor will be considered as a candidate in the search is not known. “We don’t know at that point whether the search will have been concluded,” MacElwee said. “It’s conceivable we could have a music director by that point.”

The Pacific says no changes are expected in the programs Commissiona was to have conducted, which include Bernstein’s Divertimento, Ravel’s Piano Concerto for the Left Hand (with soloist Leon Fleisher) and Rachmaninoff’s Symphony No. 2.