The Honolulu Symphony announced today that Tom Gulick is stepping down from his executive director post when his contract expires June 30.

A national search process will be initiated immediately for a replacement, symphony officials stated in news release late this afternoon.

Gulick has been the symphony's executive director the past three years and is credited with doubling the number donors (from 1,642 to 3,303) during his tenure, with proceeds equaling nearly $500,000 and gifts in excess of $1.5 million. He's also credited with working with the state legislature, governor and attorney general to secure a $4 million appropriation for the symphony endowment.

Honolulu Sympony chairman Peter Shaindlin lauded Gulick in a released statement this afternoon.

"The entire organization is grateful to Tom Gulick for having committed a considerable tenure during which the organization was able to plant important new seeds for its future growth in a number of critical areas," Shaindlin stated. "Many of these important initiatives were led by Tom in the face of unprecedented economic challenges for all performing arts organizations."

Shaindlin said the symphony is already working on next season's lineup.

The news release from the symphony also touted Gulick's greatest accomplishment to be the creation of its education department, which redefined one of the symphony's core missions and continues to impact thousands of youth across the state in part because Gulick was able to secure federal funding for the program through the state's Department of Human Services.