Michael Pastreich - President and CEO
Michael Pastreich became the President & CEO of The Florida Orchestra (TFO) in October of 2007. During the first two seasons of his leadership, TFO signed a five-year contract assuring Music Director Stefan Sanderling’s tenure through 2014, reformatted the Pops programming, and recruited Alastair Willis as Coffee Concert Conductor and Randall Swiggum as Youth Concert Conductor. Mr. Willis’ appointment was quickly followed by an expansion of the Coffee Series, the result of audience demand and TFO’s first subscription series growth in over a decade. Mr. Swiggum’s appointment dovetailed with increased education programming.
To help assure the financial stability of the orchestra, Mr. Pastreich initiated a five-year $30-million Sustainability Campaign, which raised over $14 million in its first year. Through the combination of the Sustainability Campaign’s revenue and $2.3 million in reduced expenses, TFO has balanced its budgets throughout his tenure. In addition, the endowment grew by over $3 million. To further assure a solid future for the orchestra in its continued push for ever higher standards of artistic excellence and service to the Tampa Bay area, he continues to engage nationally recognized leaders from the orchestra business to assist TFO staff in its marketing, fundraising and strategic planning initiatives.
Prior to his arrival in the Tampa Bay area, Mr. Pastreich was Executive Director of the Elgin Symphony Orchestra (ESO) in Illinois from 1996 - 2007. During his tenure with the ESO, he worked with the community, board of directors and musicians to build it into Illinois’ second largest orchestra and the state’s premier regional orchestra. Over that period, the orchestra was recognized for its tremendous artistic growth as well as for being one of the fastest growing orchestras in the nation, with attendance to its Classics and Pops series almost tripling. An annual gala event, featuring such prestigious guest artists as Yo-Yo Ma, Itzhak Perlman, Sir. James Galway and Kathleen Battle, was introduced in 1999. In 1997, the ESO began broadcasting on WFMT, the Midwest’s largest classical radio station, making the ESO’s National Broadcasts the longest continuous run in Illinois. Just prior to Mr. Pastreich’s departure, the ESO recorded its first CD on the Naxos label to critical acclaim.
Mr. Pastreich earned his BFA in Silversmithing from Washington University, where he studied under Heikki Seppä and was a Millican Scholar. Upon graduation, he received a Fulbright Scholarship for his graduate studies in Finland. He later forfeited his scholarship to participate in the League of American Orchestras’ Orchestra Management Fellowship Program.
In 2005, Mr. Pastreich was named one of the Chicago Tribune Arts Section’s 25 Chicagoans of the Year, and was honored by the Illinois Council of Orchestras as Manager of the Year.
