Interim leader chosen for Chapman’s new Musco Center for the Arts

Chapman University in Orange has named Richard T. Bryant interim executive director of the new Marybelle and Sebastian P. Musco Center for the Arts, which opens in March.

“Chapman has already benefited from Richard Bryant’s broad experience opening, managing and marketing major performing arts centers around the United States,” Chancellor Daniele Struppa said in making the announcement last week. “He joined Chapman last March to help us develop the Musco Center’s launch and strategic operating plans. We are pleased he has agreed to expand and extend his leadership role.”

From 1987 through 1996, Bryant was director of marketing and communications for the Orange County Performing Arts Center (now the Segerstrom Center for the Arts).

He later helped open the New Jersey Performing Arts Center and recently helped lead the expansion of the 15-square-block Valley Art District, which is considered one of the top creative places in New Jersey, according to Mary Platt, Chapman’s public relations director.

A grand opening for Chapman’s 1,044-seat, 88,000-square-foot Musco Center for the Arts is set for March 19. Festivities will include performances by opera legends Placido Domingo, Deborah Voigt and Milena Kitic, with an orchestra and chorus of more than 150 voices.

A free Community Open House & Arts Festival, featuring performances by Pacific Symphony, student ensembles and others, will introduce the center to the wider community on April 2.