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These people lead organizations that are dominant in the region and therefore have the ear of many leaders outside the arts and entertainment industries

Sunday, June 02, 2002

Clear Channel

The Post-Gazette Pavilion and Amphi- theatre at Station Square lineups?

That's Clear Channel. "Mamma Mia" at the Benedum? Clear Channel. Controversial WDVE billboards? That's Clear Channel, too. Like it or not, Clear Channel is everywhere, the ultimate 800-pound gorilla of the entertainment industry. It was four years ago this summer that the global conglomerate gobbled up DiCesare-Engler Productions in acquiring the nation's major concert promoters. It now operates TV and radio stations (WDVE, The X, 3WS, among others here), outdoor advertising displays and concert venues in 63 countries. It produces Broadway shows and tours, booking and sometimes managing those tours in dozens of cities, among them Pittsburgh, where its junior partners in the Pittsburgh Broadway Series are the Cultural Trust and the Symphony Society. There's also a sports division, responsible for monster truck shows and other noisy things. Faces of Clear Channel here are Rich Engler, president/CEO of Clear Channel Entertainment Pittsburgh, and Lance Jones, vice president of CCEP and executive director of the Post-Gazette Pavilion; and John Rohm and Gene Romano, regional vice president and senior vice president of programming, respectively, for Clear Channel Communications.

Ellsworth Brown
President, Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh

Brown, whose power derives from his leadership of four cherished museums, won accolades this year for supporting expansions of the Carnegie Science Center and Carnegie Museum of Natural History. Another building project is in the works at the Carnegie Museum of Art, and at The Andy Warhol Museum, Brown let the Warhol be the Warhol.

Gideon Toeplitz
Managing director, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra

By virtue of leading the city's largest and most prestigious arts organization, Toeplitz is already in a position of great power. But he squeezes every ounce of opportunity from any situation that could benefit the PSO, locally or internationally. Also, his leadership of the Greater Pittsburgh Arts Alliance found him working with other groups to better the entire arts scene.

Kevin McMahon
President, Pittsburgh Cultural Trust

In his first year here, McMahon has taken Pittsburgh's measure and likes what he sees, but he thinks we can do better. The Trust's period of imperial building having largely passed, McMahon wants to focus more on programming, including blockbuster events to increase cultural tourism, and he wants to develop small arts venues and nurture Cultural District constituents. He may be the smallest of the 800-pound gorillas now, but he's growing.