St. Clair Gets 5 More Years on Pacific Pact : Orchestra: His contract was due to expire Sept. 30, 1993.

The Pacific Symphony has extended music director Carl St. Clair’s contract, which was to expire Sept. 30, 1993, for an additional five years. Orchestra officials refuse to reveal St. Clair’s salary.

St. Clair, 39, a Texas native, assumed artistic leadership of the orchestra in 1990 after a two-year search to replace founding music director Keith Clark, whose tenure had come to a stormy end after disputes with executive director Louis G. Spisto and members of the orchestra’s board of directors.

St. Clair said Monday that he is “extremely excited” about his contract extension. “I think it’s a very strong and important statement by the board and the administration of the orchestra that we are firmly committed to working together,” he said.

He added that his goals are “to create a wonderful musical environment for the community, and an orchestra that has national acclaim.”

Asked about the secrecy surrounding St. Clair’s salary, Spisto would say only that orchestra “policy” forbids the disclosure. “It’s not public information,” he said.

At the time of his appointment, St. Clair--the youngest of the eight announced candidates for the position--had been one of two assistant conductors of the Boston Symphony and also held posts as music director of the Ann Arbor (Mich.) Symphony and the Cayuga Chamber Orchestra of Ithaca, N.Y.

He remained director of the Michigan and New York orchestras until early this month, and will continue as artistic adviser to the Cayuga for another year as it conducts a search for a new director.

In 1990, St. Clair was one of two conductors (the other was Kenneth Jean, music director of the Florida Symphony) to receive a $75,000 Seavers/National Endowment for the Arts Conductors Award.

St. Clair will lead the Pacific Symphony in a Hispanic Outreach program May 22 at Santa Ana High School. He will also conduct the final pair of concerts in the orchestra’s regular season May 27 and 28 at the Orange County Performing Arts Center in Costa Mesa.