Ex-BofA exec to step in with Charlotte Symphony

Former Bank of America executive Robert Stickler will be the Charlotte Symphony's interim executive director as the orchestra seeks a replacement for Jonathan Martin. 

Stickler, who has served on the orchestra's board of directors since 2008, will get to work Thursday, board chair Emily Smith said. That will give him a little more than a week to look over Martin's shoulder before Martin leaves to become chief executive of the Dallas Symphony. 

Stickler's experience as a board member -- and as a former president of the Oratorio Singers of Charlotte, a subsidiary of the orchestra -- "makes him perfect for this position," Smith said. Stickler, whose appointment was approved by the orchestra's board Tuesday morning, was not available for comment. 

Another board member, Richard Osborne, will chair the search committee for Martin's replacement. He may know better than anyone what the job requires. Osborne, a former Duke Energy executive, was the orchestra's interim leader for nearly a year until  Martin arrived in May 2008.  

Stickler was a communications executive for BofA from 1998 until his retirement this year, acting as a spokesman for the chief executive's office and other bank operations. Before coming to the bank, he was communications manager for Barnett Bank -- a Florida lender that BofA acquired -- and business editor of the Miami Herald.