Thomas Wesley Douglas has been confirmed as the Bach Choir of Pittsburgh's interim artistic director.

"He was rated the highest of all of the candidates by the choir," managing director Sara Jane Lowry said yesterday. "And the board was impressed by his charisma, his energy and his desire to reach various pockets of the community."

Douglas, on the faculty of Carnegie Mellon University's School of Drama and the music director of City Theatre's current "Mondo Mangia," founded Pittsburgh Chorale-East and the Neighborhood Opera Company. He also served as an assistant conductor of the Mendelssohn Choir and as chorus master of the Canton Symphony, as well as conducting music theater nationally and internationally.

Lowry said Douglas' one-year contract will begin May 5 and he will program the choir's next season. Douglas will be a leading candidate to succeed Brady Allred permanently, but that search will take place later.

"We have to work on our strategic plan first," she said.