Wallis Annenberg Center, aiming to be a major cultural player, taps David Bohnett as chairman

David Bohnett, former chairman of the Los Angeles Philharmonic and board member of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., will add another position to his list this month: chairman of the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in Beverly Hills.

The technology entrepreneur, one of Los Angeles’ most prominent cultural philanthropists, will succeed Jerry Magnin, who has served as chairman for close to three years.

Bohnett’s appointment comes at a time of significant leadership changes for a young institution looking to solidify its place in the Southern California cultural landscape.

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The Wallis said it will announce this week that Rachel Fine, former executive director of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, will be managing director, succeeding Tania Camargo, who is leaving to join a documentary company. Fine had been consulting at the Wallis through her position at the DeVos Institute of Arts Management.

In September, the Wallis appointed as its new artistic director Paul Crewes, chief executive of the Kneehigh Theatre in England.

Bohnett, a longtime Beverly Hills resident, is set to become Wallis chairman on Nov. 18. He has been serving on the Wallis’ board and has supported the organization through his foundation since its early days.

Last year, he made a gift to the Philharmonic of $20 million, the second largest in the orchestra’s history. He remains a member of the Phil’s board of directors.

“The main thing I’ve learned is that first and foremost, across these institutions, it’s the quality of the programming that drives everything,” Bohnett said in an interview.

“The second thing is that L.A. has a relatively deep bench of arts administrators, and that’s something that has changed in the last decade.”

A technology entrepreneur and venture capitalist, Bohnett founded the GeoCities site, which he later sold to Yahoo. He also has been involved with start-ups through his private equity firm, Baroda Ventures.

Magnin said in a statement: “I have nothing but the utmost confidence in his ability to govern and grow this great cultural institution.”

Bohnett said that his broad civic engagement “stems from my love of L.A. … It’s my mission to expand culture to as wide an audience as possible.”

Fine wasn’t available for an interview, but in a statement she said she intends to build on the original vision of the Wallis to “ensure that we consistently offer our community a breadth and depth of relevant programming and cultural experiences.” She is married to Times architecture critic Christopher Hawthorne.

The Wallis’ founding chairman was Bram Goldsmith, former head of City National Corp. He stepped down in 2013 but still remains on the Wallis board.

The center, which opened in 2013, is named after philanthropist Wallis Annenberg, whose $25-million donation was instrumental in transforming the former Beverly Hills post office building into an arts complex.

david.ng@latimes.com

Twitter: @DavidNgLAT