Sanford Weill Lures Philharmonic Ex-Chief to Sonoma

Zarin Mehta Is to Oversee a California Concert Hall

Sanford Weill Lures Philharmonic Ex-Chief to Green Center

When Sanford I. Weill bought a 360-acre estate in California wine country three years ago, the area had plenty of attractions â€" gourmet cuisine, fine hotels, a beautiful climate â€" everything but a major concert hall for the culturally inclined Mr. Weill. Fund-raising problems and the economic downturn had stalled the completion of the nearby Green Music Center’s auditorium at Sonoma State University.

Sanford I. Weill is the chairman of the Green Music Center at Sonoma State University.

Zarin Mehta will be an executive director at the Green Music Center.

So in 2011, Mr. Weill, the former Citigroup chief executive and longtime chairman of Carnegie Hall, and his wife, Joan, donated $12 million to finish the hall, and Mr. Weill became chairman of the center. Now he is bringing in his own man to run it, putting up the money to hire Zarin Mehta, the former president of the New York Philharmonic.

The university planned to announce on Thursday that Mr. Mehta will take on the title of executive director, which he will share with Larry Furukawa-Schlereth, the university’s chief financial officer.

Mr. Mehta “can build this place to be something unique and make it well known on a global basis,” Mr. Weill said in an interview.

The Weills will pay 80 percent of Mr. Mehta’s $300,000 annual salary to the university, which will cover the rest â€" an unconventional arrangement for an arts organization. What’s also unusual is that Mr. Mehta does not plan to move to California.

These and other factors raise questions about just how the whole thing is actually going to work. It’s unclear whether Mr. Mehta can run the center from afar; whether the center’s current operating budget of about $9 million will continue to cover the cost of top-tier talent (the Philharmonic’s budget is $73 million by comparison); and whether Mr. Zarin and Mr. Furukawa-Schlereth will comfortably share power. The scale of Mr. Weill’s effort and investment speaks to his ambitions for the hall, in Rohnert Park, Calif., and to the level of his influence. In its first year the center â€" which will ultimately cost a total of $150 million â€" has attracted prominent names in classical music. (It also presents opera, world music and jazz; Lyle Lovett is performing next month.) The pianist Lang Lang gave the first performance at the hall in September 2012, the soprano Rnée Fleming opened this year’s season, and the cellist Yo-Yo Ma performed in January. Each season will also include regular performances by the San Francisco Symphony and the Santa Rosa Symphony.

In its first season, the 1,400-seat hall was the site of 32 concerts, which sold at about 80 percent capacity. The center’s Joan and Sanford I. Weill Hall, as it is now called, was designed by William Rawn and was modeled after Mr. Rawn’s Seiji Ozawa Hall at Tanglewood, with a back wall that can open onto the landscaped Weill Lawn.

Mr. Mehta says it was the high aspirations for the center and encouragement from Mr. Lang that prompted him to take the job, although he didn’t really need a new full-time gig; at 75, he was enjoying being close to his family and being a consultant to music groups in Chicago, to which he returned in 2012 after 12 years at the Philharmonic. Before coming to New York, he was president and chief executive of the Ravinia Festival, in suburban Chicago, where he is a lifetime trustee.

“It’s the opportunity to create a public, to create culture,” Mr. Mehta said in an interview. “I will be there as long as it takes to make this thing a huge success, because the people merit it.” His portfolio at the center will include artistic issues, sales, marketing and development.

Mr. Furukawa-Schlereth said he felt fortunate to have Mr. Mehta as a partner. “I never thought we’d able to find someone of his extraordinary talent and intelligence and experience to come work with us in this brand-new venture,” he said.

Mr. Weill said he was unconcerned about the potential geographical hurdles facing Mr. Mehta. “The best managers travel,” he said. “Music is a global business with people all over the place. He will be out there as much as he absolutely has to be â€" whether it’s 110 percent of the time or 50 percent of the time.”

In addition to Weill Hall, the music center includes the 250-seat Schroeder Hall, which is expected to open next year. Still to be raised is $2.5 million for the MasterCard Performing Arts Pavilion, an open-air space scheduled to open in 2015 to which the credit card company contributed $15 million.

The music center supports itself through ticket sales, board contributions and annual giving, Mr. Furukawa-Schlereth said; the university pays for utilities and maintenance. Mr. Weill said he hoped to expand the board to 50 from 27 with people from the North Bay area, San Francisco and Silicon Valley. Most board members are expected to contribute $50,000 a year each.

As to whether the Green Center will compete with Carnegie Hall for Mr. Weill’s attentions â€" and pocketbook â€" Mr. Weill said: “We’re 3,000 miles apart. I think they can enhance each other.”

The Green Center is already collaborating on educational programs with the Weill Music Institute at Carnegie Hall.

Despite his role as the driving force behind the center, Mr. Weill said its success would not depend on him. “That wouldn’t be a good business model,” he said. “I really believe in leading by example.”

A version of this article appears in print on October 31, 2013, on page C1 of the New York edition with the headline: Zarin Mehta Is to Oversee A California Concert Hall .