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TRIBUTE
March 28, 2006
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The Man Who Led the Symphony Into a New Era By Robert P. Commanday
A great stroke of luck often brings the right person to the helm of an institution at a critical moment. For the San Francisco Symphony in 1980, that leader was Brayton Wilbur Jr., to whom much of the success of the Symphony Association at that pivotal time can be credited. He died Friday afternoon, March 24, at the University of California San Francisco Medical Center. He fell ill while in India on a trip with his wife, Judy, and after suffering a heart attack and stroke, succumbed following his return to San Francisco. He was 70.
Wilbur spearheaded the construction of Davies Symphony Hall while he was executive vice president of the Symphony from 1972 to 1980, and he led the Symphony Association as its 15th president during the orchestra's first seven years in the new hall, from 1980 to 1987. As his successor in the presidency, Nancy Bechtle, recalls, "Brayton helped to raise the San Francisco Symphony from a regional orchestra to one of the great orchestras of the world. He was an exemplary leader in that he worked hard, his standards were extremely high, and he inspired others."
From the perspective of a later arrival to the Symphony administration, Executive Director Brent Assink described Wilbur's tenure as "watershed years when the dramatic stride forward that it made would not have happened without visionary leadership. He was there, as we were defining our aspirations in our own new hall." Exuberance was his characteristic mode in all activities, and he was a devotee of his orchestra, traveling with it faithfully on its international and national tours. His frequent statement, "I never had more fun than being president of the San Francisco Symphony," was self-evident to anyone who knew him and watched him in action. His presence was unmistakable — he was a short, stocky man with a broad grin and gleaming eyes, and his speech came in the quick, lively rhythms of an enthusiast.
 Michael Tilson Thomas, who took over the Symphony's podium long after Brayton Wilbur's presidency, expressed deep appreciation for what he made possible. "He was at bat a lot during an important cultural moment, in the history of the city, the hall, the orchestra," he said to SFCV. Tilson Thomas recalled one of his last associations with him, during the celebration of the anniversary of Davies Symphony Hall, as one of the soloists in the Toy Symphony. "He played the Quail on a duck call, and I joked with him that he brought an especially mordant quality to it that I had never heard before. He really got into it during the performance, following my direction, playing loud and soft, very artistic. It was part of his sense of humor." Wilbur served on the Symphony's board of governors for 37 years, from 1969 to the present, and was a major figure on its important committees — executive, finance, membership, labor relations, long-range planning, nominating, development, steering, and the Endowment Fund Campaign, in which he took a leading role. He and his wife were founding members of the Wattis Room, the formal dining area adjacent to the Davies Symphony Hall lobby. Together with Charlotte Maillard Schultz, he revived the tradition of the Symphony's annual Black and White Ball. In addition, as a director of the San Francisco Opera, he sat on its committee to restore the Opera House after the Loma Prieta earthquake. As a long-time trustee of the Asian Arts Museum in San Francisco, Wilbur was deeply involved in the building of the new Asian Art Museum, where his wife, Judy, served as president. His deep involvement in Asia followed a family tradition — in 1954, his father, Brayton Wilbur Sr., founded the Asia Foundation, a San Francisco-based nonprofit, nongovernmental organization committed to the peaceful, prosperous, just, and open development of the Asia-Pacific region. The younger Brayton was a board member of the foundation from 1972 until his death, serving as secretary from 1985 to 1991 and chairman from 1991 to 1995. A native of San Francisco and resident of Hillsborough, Wilbur graduated from Yale University in 1957, served in the army in 1959 and 1961-'62, and earned an M.B.A. from Stanford University in 1961. In 1964, he joined the Wilbur-Ellis Company, a major international marketer and distributor of agricultural and industrial products founded in 1921 by the Wilbur family. He became executive vice president in 1974, president and CEO in 1988, and chairman in 1999, overseeing the great growth of the company. Wilbur was also director of Safeway, the Chronicle Publishing Company, and CropLife America. He was a collector of Asian and American art, as well. A member of the Burlingame Country Club, the United States Seniors Golf Association, Sunningdale Golf Club, and the San Francisco Golf Club, he was an excellent golfer and made the cut in the 1997 Pebble Beach Pro-Am. He was also a member of the Pacific Union and Cypress Point Club, where he served as president, as well as the Bohemian Club. Wilbur is survived by his wife, Judy Flood Wilbur; his children, Jennifer Wilbur Rowland of Los Angeles, Edward F. Wilbur of Carmel, Claire Pollioni of Woodside, and Michael D. Wilbur of Bangkok; his sisters, Lolita Wilbur of Hayward and Mary Thacher of San Francisco; his mother, Dita Wilbur, of Hillsborough; and eight grandchildren. A memorial service will be held Monday, April 3, at 2 p.m. in Grace Cathedral in San Francisco. In lieu of flowers, the family requests a donation be made in the name of Brayton Wilbur Jr. to the San Francisco Opera, the San Francisco Symphony, or the Medical Center at UCSF.
(Robert P. Commanday, founding editor of San Francisco Classical Voice, was the music critic of The San Francisco Chronicle from 1965 to 1993, and before that a conductor and lecturer at UC Berkeley.)
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