The Virginian-Pilot
                             THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Tuesday, July 25, 1995                 TAG: 9507250272
SECTION: LOCAL                    PAGE: B6   EDITION: FINAL 
SOURCE: BY MARK MOBLEY, MUSIC CRITIC 
DATELINE: NORFOLK                            LENGTH: Long  :  113 lines

INTERNATIONAL ARTS FESTIVAL TAKES ROOT SYMPHONY STALWART HAS BEEN HIRED TO OVERSEE MARKETING, FESTIVAL PROGRAM.

Until Monday, the idea of an international arts festival in Hampton Roads was just that. An idea. A dream bandied about by every local who's ever salivated over brochures for Spoleto, Aspen, Santa Fe and Salzburg.

Monday, the dream became a bit more real. Virginia Symphony principal percussionist and general manager Robert W. Cross was hired as director of the new Virginia Waterfront International Arts Festival.

The festival, a byproduct of regional tourism efforts, is scheduled to open in spring 1997 with a roster of top-flight artists and a budget of approximately $1.5 million. Performances, exhibitions and other events are projected to be held in at least eight cities from Williamsburg to Virginia Beach over about 10 days.

Cross, a native of Virginia Beach, was selected from eight applicants to the Virginia Waterfront Advisory Committee, an umbrella group overseeing eastern Virginia marketing campaigns.

Cross, 35, has resigned as the orchestra's general manager and will open the festival office Sept. 1. He will continue to perform with the orchestra.

``For me, it's been a dream to have an international arts festival in Hampton Roads,'' Cross said Monday. ``I'm from this area. I think it's something the area needs, to bring in that caliber of artist and also present the best Hampton Roads has to offer outside the region.''

Cross and Karen Scherberger, chairwoman of the Virginia Waterfront Events Subcommittee, have been researching festivals in the United States and abroad for months. Cross has chaired the events committee's festival subcommittee.

In April, Cross and Scherberger visited the Spoleto Festival in Charleston, S.C., meeting with city and festival staff members and artists. Cross and his wife, Virginia Symphony principal flutist Debra Wendells Cross, will travel to Scotland's Edinburgh International Festival next month.

``Rob's been working on helping us develop the concept for a long time,'' Scherberger said. ``Rob and I both have been meeting with a number of arts groups and individuals in the business community in the last few months, and found a tremendous amount of support from all across Hampton Roads. We're really encouraged by the momentum this event has been gathering.''

Scherberger, who is also director of Norfolk's Festevents, said transportation giant Norfolk Southern has donated $25,000 in seed money, and she is confident that businesses will match that amount. She expects the festival will be self-supporting through fund-raising and ticket sales. Its administration will be separate from Festevents and other city festival planners in the region.

Cross' salary is still being negotiated.

Scherberger said the festival staff will be supported by three panels. A board of directors will set policy and assist with fund-raising. An artistic advisory committee will consult on programming. A strategic planning committee will deal with what is likely to be the most vexing of concerns: getting tourists from site to site.

The eight cities advertised in the Virginia Waterfront Campaign are Norfolk, Virginia Beach, Portsmouth, Chesapeake, Hampton, Newport News, Yorktown and Williamsburg. Scherberger said other area cities would be offered the opportunity to participate.

``Transportation is one of the hot issues,'' Cross said. ``You don't want them to spend half their time getting stuck in traffic and being miserable.''

Cross presented the possibility of shuttle buses and using such nontraditional venues as the Boathouse and the Virginia Beach amphitheater, which is now being built.

He said that in the fall he will begin recruiting performing groups for the festival.

``Right now, it's a totally clean slate,'' he said. ``I want to find out who's touring, what's available. Dance companies, opera companies, orchestras, and talk to the local arts organizations and find out what would best represent them at the level we hope to aspire to.''

Cross has watched the arts in Hampton Roads from the stage and behind a desk. A graduate of Kempsville High School, he returned to the area to join the Virginia Symphony and play in the Virginia Opera pit. He has also served as the symphony's orchestra manager, personnel manager, general manager and - twice - interim executive director.

Virginia Symphony executive director Daniel J. Hart succeeded Cross as administrative head of the orchestra a year ago. Hart said of Cross's appointment to the festival: ``I think they made a really good choice, because he has the general arts knowledge and he's worked in a rough-and-tumble setting for five years.

``I think Rob'll do a great job. He's an excellent fund raiser. He's had long experience with engaging artists and putting schedules together. That's the kind of stuff the festival's going to need.''

Cross' festival experience includes two summers as a student at Tanglewood, the summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra in Lenox, Mass. He performs at the Eastern Music Festival in Greensboro, N.C., and administered the now-defunct Chesapeake Bay Music Festival for its two seasons. He is also a member of the McCullough Chorale board and a Norfolk Ambassador.

Cross said the success of the Virginia Waterfront campaign - it has generated more than 100,000 calls in just a year - is just one factor contributing to his optimism about the festival.

``I think the business community and the leadership of the cities are realizing how important tourism is to Hampton Roads,'' he said. ``We don't have the Fortune 500 corporations, and we don't have a lot of manufacturing and the military is downsizing. We have beautiful beaches and a wealth of history, and we have a whole lot of things that naturally attract people to Hampton Roads.

``I've got three boxes of stuff I've collected on festivals, knowing the time would come. Every time I get an idea, I've been putting it in a file. I've been reading the New York Times on Sunday, to see what's out there and has been touring and is cool.''

One key decision will be to find a theme, a unifying idea for the festival's performances and exhibitions. ``Is it all really, really high-quality stuff? Or does it need to be Baroque or 20th Century?

``Now that it's official, it's my gig and I can start making these decisions.'' ILLUSTRATION: [Color Photo]

Robert W. Cross

by CNB