Center OKs Controversial Series : Ethnic concerts: Over president’s objections, the board approves five shows to be presented by O.C. Philharmonic Society next season.

The Orange County Philharmonic Society will present Les Ballets Africains from the Republic of Guinea, the Chieftains from Ireland and other ethnic groups at the Orange County Performing Arts Center next season in a five-concert series that had been opposed by center president Thomas Kendrick.

The series, approved Thursday by center board members after three weeks of public controversy, will begin Oct. 2 with Mariachi Los Camperos de Nati Cano, known for collaborations with Linda Ronstadt and heard at the inauguration of President Clinton.

Les Ballets Africains will perform Nov. 20. The Chieftains, generally acknowledged as the world’s premier performers of Celtic music, will play Dec. 6, followed by the Canadian Brass Feb. 26, 1994, and the Hungarian State Folk Ensemble on March 15, 1994.

Series tickets will range from $55 to $157 and will go on sale April 1. Tickets for individual concerts will go on sale in September.

A statement issued by Kendrick’s office after the board’s vote stressed that permission for such concerts “not oriented to classical music (is) specifically limited to the 1993-94 season . . . all future OCPS series at the center shall reflect a primary focus on quality touring symphony orchestras and other classical-music attractions.”

The statement--the tone of which even surprised observers familiar with Kendrick’s style--insisted that the center should control programming even when others such as the Philharmonic Society are taking the financial risk by renting center facilities.

Except for Les Ballets Africains and the Mariachi group, the artists in the series have been presented in the past by the society at the center (Les Ballets Africains performed at the Irvine Barclay Theatre in 1991). Still, Kendrick had attempted to block the series this time, asserting that it did not constitute “classical” programming in accordance with what he sees as the center and society’s “missions.”

Kendrick’s statement further asserted that the sort of ethnic programming the society was proposing could conflict with the center’s own presentations and those of other tenants.

Despite prevailing conceptions that the center is responsible for all the programming in the building, it in fact only presents a dance series that emphasizes ballet (and not the sort of ethnic dance the society will bring in), touring Broadway revivals with such performers as Debby Boone, and some light jazz and chamber music.

The society is responsible for most of the internationally recognized classical musicians who perform in the hall (the rest of the society’s 1993-94 season, strictly orchestral in nature, is to be announced next week).

Philharmonic Society president Steven Lupinacci had charged Kendrick with trying to wrest artistic control from the society’s offerings and to pressure it into merging with the Pacific Symphony--a move that, according to some society officials, would facilitate the center’s administrative tasks as a landlord.

Center chairman-designate Thomas Nielsen had refused to confirm or deny the charges of pressuring and interference. Kendrick refused to comment then and continued this week to decline comment or to elaborate or answer any questions about the statement his office prepared.

In other action Thursday, the center board voted to extend the society $150,000 in rental credit, which the society says it needs until spring when patrons renew their subscriptions. But Kendrick’s statement asserted that “to qualify for the credit line, OCPS must agree that it will make no further requests for financial assistance from the center for the 1993-94 season and succeeding seasons.”

This is the second year in a row that the center has helped the society financially. The center also gave the Pacific Symphony orchestra similar assistance, also for two years. A symphony official said that the second time the orchestra’s credit was extended, no such “never-again” proviso was attached.