Q&A; : New O.C. Arts Leadership : Philharmonic’s Scope to Broaden : New Executive Director Dean Corey says financial matters and programming will get equal attention. He likes the trend of diversity in attractions.

Not only has the Orange County Philharmonic Society been responsible for bringing major orchestras into the Orange County Performing Arts Center; lately it has been broadening the center’s scope by offering such attractions as the Chieftains and Ballet Folklorico de Mexico.

It’s a trend that Dean Corey, the Philharmonic Society’s newly named executive director, would like to continue. Corey will take over for departed director Erich Vollmer early next month, leaving his current position as development director of the San Diego Symphony.

Saying that he looks forward to the challenges of his new job, Corey answered a variety of questions Friday about the new post and his coming north to Orange County.

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Question: You currently are a development director. Do you think your experience in dealing with a deficit was an important factor in your hiring? Do you feel you will be expected to pay more attention to business matters than to programming?

Answer: I think it’s sort of a balanced thing. The Philharmonic Society’s deficit has been significantly reduced. (The deficit was last reported to be $110,000; the amount of the reduction is expected to be announced Monday during the organization’s annual meeting.) I will be very active in building up a reserve for the organization.

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Q: What kind of challenges do you face in moving from a producing organization, the San Diego Symphony, to a presenting group?

A: Sometimes you look at enumerating the challenges you will be leaving. This is the first time I won’t be dealing with unions, for instance. I look forward to the change, actually. That’s a very attractive part of it, presenting different orchestras.

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Q: Certain O.C. arts groups, though not the Philharmonic Society, have been criticized for their apparent reluctance to enter the fray vis-a-vis AIDS, in terms of broad-based benefit programs and programs that would raise awareness. What obligations do you think performers and groups like yours have along these lines?

A: I don’t know. AIDS has certainly affected the arts and the people in the arts, so it cannot be ignored.

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Q: Are you concerned about dealing with an essentially conservative audience, not only in terms of things like AIDS programming and other things that might be seen as political, but in terms of offering challenging new works, something for which Orange County has not been known?

A: I think it’s a certain synergy between artist and audience which makes being involved in the performing arts exciting. Exploring that relationship is the challenge of this job. It doesn’t concern me at all, because what you term a conservative audience is still a very intelligent one.

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Q: Would you hope to commission new works while you are here? What sort of works might you have in mind?

A: That’s something I’m going to have to determine once I get there. That has not come up in discussions with the Philharmonic Society.

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Q: The Philharmonic Society and the outgoing administration of the Orange County center clashed over the propriety of ethnic programming in the hall. Center officials considered such acts as the Chieftains and the Ballet Folklorico de Mexico to be “non-classical” and therefore inappropriate for the Philharmonic Society to present there. What are your thoughts along these lines?

A: We have plans to continue in that vein. I think Ballet Folklorico is classical in its own sense. I look forward to discussions with (incoming Performing Arts Center director) Tom Tomlinson on this. In fact, I just spoke with him on the phone this morning. We’ll be getting together soon after he arrives.

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Q: Talks of a merger between the Philharmonic Society and the Pacific Symphony, Orange County’s home-based orchestra, have cropped up periodically. Did that come up in your discussion with the society?

A: It’s my understanding that there is no longer any discussion of that issue.

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Q: What are your personal preferences vis-a-vis the performing arts? If you could go see any three performers, ensembles or shows, what would they be?

A: Really, what attracts me more than the ensemble itself is the music. What is being played is paramount. . . . Certainly, I enjoy the Chicago Symphony or the Vienna Philharmonic, but I’m personally attracted to hearing works that I haven’t heard as many times in a live performance. As a performer, I’ve done some works hundreds of times. I wouldn’t be so inclined to go hear the “Firebird” by Stravinsky, but I’d love to hear “Orpheus,” which you don’t hear orchestras play that much. That, to me, is a masterpiece.

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Q: What are the last three books you read?

A: I’m reading a William Kennedy book, “Very Old Bones.” I just finished a biography of Ferdinand Maximilian of Mexico. The book I’m about to read is the new book by William Manchester about the Renaissance, “A World Lit Only By Fire.” I like history and novels. I like good writing also.

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Q: If you had a blank check, how would you spend it while in Orange County to benefit American performing arts at large? Education, community activism, commissioning of new works?

A: I think if I had a blank check, which I would fill out for a rather extraordinary amount, it would be used to generate further funds through challenge grants. I would bring Orange County arts groups together to plan projects that would further the creativity and quality of life in Orange County.