The first time Virginia McEnerney met John Schreiber she was unaware of what she calls his “big man on campus” reputation in arts circles. In fact, she admitted to him something she now finds embarrassing: She thought NJPAC — short for the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark, where Mr. Schreiber is president and chief executive — was a political action committee.

What Ms. McEnerney considered a gaffe, though, meant nothing to Mr. Schreiber the night of their introduction in March 2014 at the 60th birthday party in Manhattan of a mutual friend, Robert Sherman. He was too enchanted by Ms. McEnerney to care.

“Virginia was elegant and articulate,” Mr. Schreiber said, “also very pretty.”

Fortunately for him, she liked the first impression he made, too. Call it dapper: Mr. Schreiber, 64, wears his hair in a crew cut and is rarely seen without a coat and tie. His taste in music might be considered unlikely for a modern-day arts impresario.

“John totally skipped over the music of our generation,” said Ms. McEnerney, 62, of Park Slope, Brooklyn.