New Stages
Orchestras Dream Big at the League’s National Conference
Prelude
The headlong onrush of generative artificial intelligence could be as far-reaching as the Industrial Revolution. AI has the potential to open horizons for creativity and free-wheeling experimentation, artmaking, fun. Still, despite rosy prognostications from the folks who devise new tech, the exponentially increasing smarts and utility of AI could put a lot of people—including tech folks—out of work. Then again, at some point adding machines were new and potentially threatening tech. Now there’s an app for that.
How orchestras do their business—the essential behind-the-scenes data crunching, income handling, ticket tallying, tracking of musician services—will become more automated. That offloads a lot of tedious but necessary work from humans, who have better things to do, to machines. Informative program notes could be written by AI without much human intervention. But what about the music? What about how composers compose? If you don’t need to know how to compose since AI does it for you, does that music truly express your imagination, skill, and inspiration? Is it you?
This issue of Symphony looks at a field at a flex point, between tradition and change, convention and innovation. We hear from the young people whose insights the League is highlighting with its Student Leadership Council. We investigate Rhapsody in Blue —the work was a brazen “experiment” 100 years ago, now it’s a beloved repertory staple. We report on the growth of commissions and performances of works by Native American composers, who were too long sidelined from orchestra stages. And we catch up with composer John Adams and conductor Michael Tilson Thomas, veterans who started out as iconoclasts. Their work still challenges, upends expectations, points forward.
VOLUME 75, NUMBER 1 / SUMMER 2024 symphony® the award-winning magazine of the League of American Orchestras, reports on the issues critical to the orchestra community and communicates to the American public the value and importance of orchestras and the music they perform.
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Led by Music Director Juraj Valčuha, the Houston Symphony performs Stravinsky’s Oedipus Rex in a May 2023 concert with designs by Adam Larsen. The performance included vocalists Dashon Burton, Matthew White, Michelle DeYoung, and Sean Panikkar, as well as the Houston Symphony Chorus. Photo by Melissa Taylor.
4 Prelude by Robert Sandla
6 The Score Orchestra news, moves, and events
12 Board Room
The League’s National Conference happens in Houston this year, so we asked leaders of orchestra boards across Texas to share what’s top-of-mind for them. By Piper Starnes
18 League Impact Report 2023
The League’s 2023 Impact Report documents how the League is helping to support orchestras in areas including advocacy; research; convenings and events; equity, diversity, and inclusion; and learning and leadership.
24 Head of the Class
The League’s new Student Leadership Council brings forward the voices and perspectives of young people—who are the future of the orchestra field. Symphony asked members of the Council to share their thoughts on where they see orchestras today—and tomorrow.
28 What It Takes to Build Audiences and Sustainability
Throughout this issue, text marked like this indicates a link to websites and online resources. 64 44 56 34 18 6
The Wallace Foundation’s Building Audiences for Sustainability Initiative explores how nonprofits arts groups—including orchestras—might expand audiences and boost revenue.
34 All-American Rhapsody
Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue turns 100 this year. Orchestras are celebrating its centenary with performances, composers are reimagining the music, and performers are forging fresh interpretations, even as the work’s complex cultural legacy comes under renewed scrutiny. By Jeremy Reynolds
40 AI Revolution
What do advances in tech like generative AI mean for orchestras? Doug McLennan, an expert in new technologies and their impact on the arts, offers insights on how evolving tech could change the ways that orchestras relate to audiences, how they do business, and even how they make music. By Naveen Kumar
44 Indigenous Composers in the Spotlight
More and more orchestras are performing and commissioning works by Native American composers and musical artists. Even given the new interest in Indigenous composers, concerns remain about the lack of diversity at orchestras. By Rita Pyrillis
50 Celebrating Volunteers
The League’s Volunteer Council turns 60 this year—and there’s a lot to celebrate.
By Vivien Schweitzer
56 The Real Maverick
Conductor Michael Tilson Thomas and composer John Adams are longtime friends and professional colleagues, with a history of pathbreaking teamwork. Here, Adams tells the story of their collaborations, aesthetics, and how Tilson Thomas changed orchestras.
By John Adams
60 Advertiser Index
62 League of American Orchestras Annual Fund
64 Coda: Musician as Climate Activist
Jeffrey Weisner is a bassist in the National Symphony Orchestra with a passionate commitment to climate action. Here, he proposes strategies that orchestras can use to lessen their climate impact.
The Score
Addressing and Preventing Sexual Misconduct
On May 1, the League of American Orchestras issued a public message and posted resources on americanorchestras.org concerning how to address and prevent sexual misconduct. The League encourages its members to follow best practices in responding to reports concerning sexual misconduct from survivors and their allies, and in building inclusive and supportive cultures that protect against harm.
Addressing and Preventing Sexual Misconduct
The League of American Orchestras cares deeply about the safety and well-being of everyone connected to orchestral music. Our commitments are to help the victims and survivors of sexual misconduct access the help they need, to provide orchestras with essential resources as they continue building inclusive and supportive organizations, and to convene field-wide dialogue to change the cultures that lead to exclusion and harm.
Preventing and addressing sexual misconduct will require sustained collective action across the classical music ecosystem, including administrative and artistic leaders, boards, unions, conservatories, colleges, and festivals. In the near term, the League is using its programmatic work, peer groups, affinity networks, and leadership capacity to advance this change. We are:
1. Promoting the resources of RAINN, the nation's largest anti-sexual violence organization, which operates the National Sexual Assault Hotline and carries out programs to prevent sexual violence. Please see below for more information.
2. Helping orchestras access best practices that will prevent sexual misconduct, build a culture of allyship, and provide
Total Eclipse of the Art
When the total solar eclipse swept across North America on April 8, two orchestras marked the celestial drama with two very different concerts. The Bloomington Symphony Orchestra in Indiana gave a free outdoor “There Goes the Sun” concert that featured a space-themed playlist including the Beatles’ “Here Comes the Sun,” Hoagy Carmichael’s “Stardust,” and John Williams’s “Imperial March” from Star Wars. Several thousand local folks and eclipse tourists attended the Bloomington Symphony concert, which ended—perhaps inevitably— with Bonnie Tyler’s 1983 hit, “Total Eclipse of the Heart.” In New York State, the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra marked the astronomical anomaly with a “RPO Eclipse Spectacular” in Blue Cross Arena. The concert featured conductors Andreas Delfs, Jeff Tyzik, and Jherrard Hardeman leading works including Strauss’s Sunrise from Also sprach Zarathustra , selections from Holst’s The Planets, music from Star Trek and Star Wars, and more. “There’s a little bit of everything,” Hardeman told a local news station, “from the RPO to aerial acrobats from Troop Vertigo. Push Physical Theatre is involved. There’s
effective reporting procedures through our 2024 National Conference, learning programs, and regular updates to our new online resources for orchestras and individuals, which can be found at https://bit.ly/preventionandsupport.
3. Accelerating our Inclusive Stages coalition work to reform tenure and audition procedures. We are grateful to our union partners and many orchestras across the country for their participation in this field-wide collaboration, which will build on the important recommendations already made by the National Alliance for Audition Support in 2021 and the Black Orchestral Network in 2024.
4. Expanding our work to support orchestras as they build inclusive workplaces, remove systemic obstacles to safety and belonging, and end the abuses of power that impede the development of healthy cultures. We will work with our membership, expert partners, and those with lived experience, to identify additional next steps. We reaffirm the principles of equity, diversity, and inclusion that guide all our efforts, recognizing that inclusive, safe organizational cultures are essential to the wellbeing of all marginalized groups. We will work tirelessly for a future that respects and honors the dignity, value, and creative capacity of every human being. If you'd like to learn more about how to take immediate action to prevent sexual misconduct, please visit RAINN at www.rainn.org. If you or someone you know has been assaulted or experienced other forms of sexual misconduct, support is available. To speak to someone who can help, call RAINN's National Sexual Assault Hotline at 800-656-HOPE (4673) or visit www.rainn.org for online chat support.
a chorus. There’s a gospel choir. Lasers. Lights. You name it.” Rochester City Ballet also performed. “If you think about it, everything about music forces you to come together,” Hardeman added. “You have a bunch of musicians who obviously have to come together to present the music. Then, you have to listen… When you come to a concert, you’re listening to someone else’s perspective on the world.”
Musicians of the Bloomington Symphony Orchestra geared up for their outdoor concert celebrating the solar eclipse in April.
Oakland Symphony’s New Music Director: Kedrick Armstrong
Kedrick Armstrong has been appointed music director of California’s Oakland Symphony. He succeeds Music Director and Conductor Michael Morgan, who passed away in 2021 after a 30-year career at the symphony. Armstrong’s next appearances with the Oakland Symphony will open its 2024–2025 Season. Armstrong, who is 29 and hails from Georgetown, SC, is currently the creative partner and principal conductor of the Knox-Galesburg Symphony in Illinois. He is an alum of Chicago Sinfonietta’s Project Inclusion Freeman Conducting Fellow program, where he served as assistant conductor during the 2018-2019 season. He holds a B.M. in History and Literature from Wheaton College and an M.M. in Orchestral Conducting from the University of Colorado-Boulder. He graduated from the South Carolina Governor’s School for the Arts and Humanities. Recent appearances include the Lyric Opera of Chicago, Opera Theater of St. Louis, DePaul Opera Theater, and Chicago Opera Theater. He has also worked with the Ravinia Festival’s REACH*TEACH*PLAY program, Chicago Musical Pathways Initiative, and Chicago Sinfonietta’s Audience Matters.
Dallas Symphony
CEO Kim Noltemy to Become Head of Los Angeles Philharmonic
Kim Noltemy has been named president and chief executive officer of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, effective July 8, 2024. Noltemy will oversee the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the organization’s three venues—Walt Disney Concert Hall, the Hollywood Bowl, and The Ford—as well as its Youth Orchestra Los Angeles (YOLA) program and partnerships across Los Angeles County. Noltemy goes to the LA Phil from the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, where she has served as president and CEO since 2018. At the Dallas Symphony, she presided over the appointment of Fabio Luisi as music director in 2020, instituted comprehensive equity, diversity, and inclusion initiatives, and increased performance and professional opportunities for BIPOC and women musicians, composers, and staff. Prior to Dallas, she worked for 21 years at the Boston Symphony Orchestra, most recently as chief operating and communications officer for the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Boston Pops, Symphony Hall, and Tanglewood. At the LA Phil, Noltemy will work with Music and Artistic Director Gustavo Dudamel, who in 2026 will depart to become music director of the New York Philharmonic.
Ryan Appointed Music Director of Charlotte Symphony Orchestra
Conductor Kwamé Ryan has been named music director designate of the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra in North Carolina. Ryan is serving as music director designate through the remainder of the orchestra’s current season and becomes music director in the 2024–25 season, with an initial contract of four years. Ryan succeeds Christopher Warren-Green, who was music director for 12 years. Born in Canada and raised in Trinidad, Ryan studied musicology at Cambridge University and trained in conducting with Peter Eötvös. Ryan was general music director of Freiburg Opera, and served as musical and artistic director of the National Orchestra of Bordeaux Aquitaine. Ryan has led orchestras across the U.S. including the Baltimore, Dallas, Atlanta, and Houston symphonies; his international credits include London’s Philharmonia Orchestra, the BBC Proms, Brussels’s Theatre La Monnaie, the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, and the Opera Bastille in Paris. In 2023, Ryan conducted the world premiere of Jake Heggie’s Intelligence at Houston Grand Opera. In the spring of 2024, he made his debut with Opera Theatre of St. Louis and the New York Philharmonic.
Chicago Symphony Orchestra Names Klaus Mäkelä as Its Next Music Director
On April 2, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra announced the appointment of Finnish conductor Klaus Mäkelä as its incoming music director. He succeeds Riccardo Muti, music director from 2010 to 2023. Following a term as music director designate, effective immediately, Mäkelä will begin an initial five-year tenure as music director in September 2027. Mäkelä will be 31 when he becomes music director at the start of the 2027–28 season, coinciding with his inauguration as chief conductor of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. Mäkelä was named chief conductor of the Oslo Philharmonic in 2020 and music director of the Orchestre de Paris in 2021. This season, he led the Cleveland Orchestra and Munich Philharmonic; previous engagements include the Berlin Philharmonic, New York Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, and London Philharmonic Orchestra. After studying conducting with Jorma Panula at Helsinki’s Sibelius Academy, Mäkelä was artistic director of Finland’s Turku Music Festival and principal guest conductor of the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra. A cellist, he takes part in occasional chamber concerts with members of the Oslo Philharmonic, Orchestre de Paris, and Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra.
Kwamé
Kwamé Ryan
Dallas Symphony Orchestra/Sylvia
Elzafon
Kim Noltemy
Klaus Mäkelä conducts the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.
Todd Rosenberg
Kedrick Armstrong
Oakland Symphony
New York’s Albany Symphony has named industry veteran DAVID HYSLOP as interim executive director.
ANNA HANDLER has joined the Boston Symphony Orchestra as assistant conductor.
NATHAN LUTZ has joined California’s Carmel Bach Festival as executive director.
DAVID COMMANDAY has been named music director of the Carmel Symphony Orchestra in Indiana. He is also artistic director and conductor of the Heartland Festival Orchestra in Illinois.
Composer JULIA WOLFE has joined the Cincinnati May Festival as the organization’s first-ever Festival Director.
JASON ALEXANDER HOLMES has joined the May Festival as associate director of choruses and director of youth chorus.
Musical Chairs
British cellist SHEKU KANNEHMASON has been named 2024 MAC Music Innovator at the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra.
This fall, JAMES ROSS will join the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia as director of orchestral studies. Ross recently extended his contract as music director of the Alexandria Symphony Orchestra.
SHIRA SAMUELS-SHRAGG is the Dallas Symphony’s new assistant conductor.
The Elgin Symphony in Illinois has hired eight new musicians, the orchestra’s first hires since 2019. The new players are ANDREW PORT as principal oboe; ROBBIE HERBST as assistant principal second violin; violinists CARMEN ABELSON, KATE CARTER, and CAROLINE SLACK; and violists JASON BUTLER, ERIN RAFFERTY and SAVA VELKOFF
Music Director MICHAEL FRANCIS has extended his contract with the Florida Orchestra through 2030.
JUN MÄRKL is the next music director of the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra. Märkl signed a five-year contract that begins with the 2024–25 season.
LEONARD SLATKIN has been named artistic consultant at the Las Vegas Philharmonic and will serve through the 2024-25 season as the orchestra searches for a permanent music director.
Music Academy of the West, the music festival and school in Santa Barbara, California, has hired NATE BACHHUBER as chief artistic officer.
JOHN KILKENNY has joined the New York Youth Symphony as executive director.
At Orchestra Iowa, ERIC MARSHALL has been named chief executive officer and JULIA SAKHAROVA has been appointed concertmaster.
JAAP VAN ZWEDEN has signed a five-year agreement to become music director of the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France in 2026. In January, van Zweden began a five-year term as the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra’s music director. Van Zweden steps down from the New York Philharmonic this summer.
Conductor LEE MILLS is the newly named executive director of the Palm Springs Friends of Philharmonic, a presenting organization, and has signed a four-year contract as music director of the Greenville Symphony Orchestra in South Carolina.
MARIN ALSOP has been named principal guest conductor of the Philadelphia Orchestra; her three-year term begins in the 2024–25 season. She is also chief conductor of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra at the Ravinia Festival.
JULIE STAPF has joined the Pittsburgh Symphony as vice president of marketing and communications. Stapf was previously vice president of sales and marketing at the Cleveland Orchestra.
Virginia’s Richmond Symphony has appointed RICHARD W. ROBBINS as director of the Richmond Symphony Chorus.
ROBERT SPANO has been named principal conductor at Rhode Island Philharmonic Orchestra & Music School. Spano is also music director of the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra and the Aspen Music Festival and School.
The Sacramento Philharmonic and Opera has appointed two new musicians: Principal Viola JACOB JOSEPH and Principal Bassoon JORDAN FARBER
Conductor and pianist JEFFREY KAHANE has been appointed music director of the San Antonio Philharmonic in Texas.
California’s Santa Rosa Symphony has promoted ENID RICKLEY-MYRES to director of development. Rickley-Myres has worked at the orchestra for nearly two decades.
JOANNA MULFINGER has been appointed concertmaster of the Spartanburg Philharmonic in South Carolina.
ANDRE DOWELL has been promoted from chief of artist engagement to chief programming officer at the Sphinx Organization.
The Springfield Symphony Orchestra in Massachusetts has hired KIM COLLINS as audience development and community engagement manager, and CAITLIN MEYER as education director.
SIMONE YOUNG has extended her contract as Sydney Symphony’s chief conductor through 2026.
JUDE MORRIS is the new principal trombone player at Symphony New Hampshire.
The Waco Symphony in Texas has appointed LAWRENCE LOH as music director. Loh is also music director of the Syracuse Orchestra (formerly Symphoria) in Syracuse, New York.
CARLOS VICENTE has joined the Walton Arts Center, home of the Symphony of Northwest Arkansas and other arts groups, as vice president of marketing and sales.
Texas Board Chairs’ Top Priorities
Orchestras and their boards of directors know that post-pandemic life has affected the habits and priorities of their communities, from how they spend their money to what kind of programming they find most compelling. The League of American Orchestras’ National Conference takes place in Houston this year, so we asked leaders of orchestra boards across Texas to share their most pressing concerns and aspirations for orchestra leaders, musicians, and audiences, and how they plan to maintain cultural relevance across diverse communities.
By Piper Starnes
The League of American Orchestras’ 79th National Conference, hosted this June by the Houston Symphony, is an opportunity for orchestras nationwide to get together and, as the Conference theme puts it, “Dream Big!” in the state where “everything’s bigger.” This makes it a great time to hear from board chairs and presidents of Texas orchestras about what’s currently top of mind for them. Speakers include board leaders of professional orchestras, community ensembles, and youth symphonies throughout the state; their comments provide insight into their day-to-day programs, pending projects, and longterm initiatives.
Leaders at several boards of directors discuss their orchestra’s role in enriching and connecting their communities, as well as their plans to foster curiosity and embrace change through innovative artistic and educational programming. While each organization has its own individual challenges and priorities regarding orchestral music, board chairs seem to agree that diversifying content and engagement is vital to developing and sustaining deep relationships with audiences for generations to come.
Barbara Burger, President, Houston Symphony
What inspires you to volunteer to serve on your orchestra’s board?
I moved from the [San Francisco] Bay Area in 2013, and in 2023, I assumed the role of board president of the Houston Symphony. That fact speaks volumes about Houston and the Houston Symphony. Where else would a transplant— who came with no references from the San Francisco Symphony other than that of a satisfied single-ticket patron—be able to join a century-plus organization and, within a decade, reach the volunteer leader position? In Houston, you are welcome, and I hope that the League of American Orchestra members feel that when they arrive this June for the Conference.
During the decade that I have been a part of the Houston Symphony family, we have endured natural disasters (Hurricane Harvey and the COVID pandemic being the largest), have transitioned music directors, chief executive officers, and senior staff, and progressed
the first major building renovation in the history of Jones Hall. We have also grown our audiences and the number of schools and education programs that our musicians serve; have grown operating and contributed revenue as well as our endowment; and our musicians are playing better than ever with programming that draws from both the traditional as well as the new, and is diverse, thematic, bold, and innovative.
“We have grown our audiences and the number of schools and education programs that our musicians serve; have grown operating and contributed revenue; and our musicians are playing programming that draws from the traditional and the new.” –Barbara Burger, President, Houston Symphony
What do you see as the most pressing issues and opportunities facing your orchestra right now?
The biggest opportunities that we face lie in resourcing and executing on our ambitions as laid out in our strategic plan, and in leveraging and enriching our community in such a fast-growing and dynamic city and region.
Houston Symphony
Cathy Loving, President, Brazos Valley Symphony Orchestra
What do you see as the most pressing issues and opportunities facing your orchestra?
Right now, our focus is rebuilding audience and attendance post-COVID. It has been our experience that the subscription model of years past has changed; while we are seeing a rise in custom packages and individual tickets, the full-season subscriptions are less than pre-COVID. Along with that, people are making last-minute plans instead of committing early. The Brazos Valley Symphony Orchestra (BVSO) is adapting to these changes while still maintaining the unwavering commitment to deliver performances of unparalleled quality and richness. Now is the time to foster community partnerships and explore new and innovative formats to attract new audiences and adapt programming to appeal to diverse audiences.
“Orchestras must actively embrace digital platforms, diversify programming, and prioritize community engagement. These are key strategies for success.” –Cathy Loving, President, Brazos Valley Symphony Orchestra
What do you see as your orchestra’s role in your community?
Arts organizations enrich communities by providing avenues for creative expression and promoting social connection through shared experiences. They stimulate economic growth by attracting tourism and supporting local businesses while also nurturing individual well-being by offering opportunities for education, inspiration, and emotional connection. The BVSO is one of the few professional arts organizations in our community, and it is our mission to make sure our community knows the BVSO is accessible to all. Our goal is to enrich our community through transformative
musical experiences, education, and community engagement. What’s your vision for the orchestra field? How should orchestras adapt to changing times?
My vision for the orchestra field is centered on the necessity for innovation and adaptability to remain relevant in changing times. Orchestras must actively embrace digital platforms, diversify programming, and prioritize community engagement. These are key strategies for success. What’s your vision for your orchestra in the future? What’s your message for orchestras in the future?
My vision for the BVSO is to thrive as a cultural institution in the Brazos Valley, in a way that is deeply connected to and reflective of our community. I see the BVSO actively embracing change, exploring new avenues to introduce classical music to our community, and finding innovative ways to showcase our talented musicians to a wider audience. We are committed to making the Brazos Valley Symphony Orchestra accessible to everyone, ensuring that no one is left behind in experiencing the beauty and richness of our performances.
What do you see as the most pressing issues and opportunities facing your orchestra right now?
The San Antonio Philharmonic has an historic opportunity to re-envision what symphonic music can mean in San Antonio and the surrounding community. The isolation that the pandemic caused gave new importance to live public performance. Welcoming everyone back has been rewarding after being off the stage for so long. Live performance is part of a healthy society.
This reset also gave us an opportunity to reach out to our whole community. Taking the time to build relationships with different groups and neighborhoods throughout San Antonio and finding and supporting leadership who are willing and excited to do that
work have been key. Without investing deeply in these relationships, our efforts would be disingenuous and flat. This means reaching people where they live, literally and figuratively. Being adventurous in programming has also fostered curiosity. This led automatically to an opportunity to learn, since even the grizzled orchestra musicians need to find out about what is new. Regardless of age this spark begins an exploration across genres for a deeper understanding of our world.
“Welcoming everyone back has been rewarding after being off the stage for so long. Live performance is part of a healthy society.” –Brian Petkovich, President, San Antonio Philharmonic
The perseverance to make great music is driven by the need to share empathy and humanity with one another. The commitment to making memorable concerts has galvanized the San Antonio Philharmonic.
What do you see as the most pressing issues and opportunities facing your Board right now?
The Mid-Texas Symphony is at a moment of transformation. The May 2019 hire of two outstanding professionals—Music Director Akiko Fujimoto and Executive Director Jason Irle—put us on the path to think of ourselves as an orchestra that is a treasured artistic jewel. We plan to use the summer of 2024 to put together a four-year plan that will take us to our 50th anniversary in 2028. Issues we will need to address are increasing donor and corporate contributions, raising musician pay, enhancing our community presence, and diversifying our audience. What inspires you to volunteer to serve on your orchestra’s board?
My inspiration has changed since joining the Board in 2006. After the first few years, what inspired me the most was
Brian Petkovich, President, San Antonio Philharmonic
San Antonio Philharmonic
Ellen Salyers, President, Mid-Texas Symphony
Mid-Texas Symphony
Brazos Valley Symphony Orchestra
“One of our major funders recently told us to continue doing what we are doing, but to do it better. My message for orchestras of the future is ‘Play to Win.’”
–Ellen Salyers, President, Mid-Texas Symphony
the boldness of the vision of our founder, Professor Anita Windecker. I wanted to emulate her spirit of bold, well-crafted vision.
What’s your vision for your orchestra’s future? What’s your message for orchestras in the future?
We are in one of the fastest-growing areas of the country, and our challenge is to ride that wave of energy to benefit us. One of our major funders recently told us to continue doing what we are doing, but to do it better. Our new four-year plan will lay out the steps we need to take to increase contributions and musician
pay, weave ourselves more firmly into the fabric of the community, and diversify our audience. My message for orchestras of the future is “Play to Win.”
Ashlie Skidmore, President, Mesquite Symphony Orchestra
What do you see as the most pressing issues and opportunities facing your orchestra right now?
The Mesquite Symphony is a mostly volunteer orchestra with a modest budget, when compared to other similar organizations in our region. The most pressing issue facing our orchestra currently is twofold: time and money. Finding musicians to volunteer their time, and finding funding to program exciting, culturally relevant music by historically underrepresented populations. Our volunteer orchestra routinely performs programs which would be right at home with the LA Phil, Boston Symphony, and the like, but finding volunteers who are willing to perform demanding repertoire at a routinely high standard is a hard-fought endeavor for our personnel managers. Secondly, these programs often involve expensive rental music, which takes a significant percentage of our operating budget; however, this cause is something that gives us a unique identity among many orchestras that choose to play the canonical classical repertoire.
“We celebrate—through programming, mission, advertisement, or other means— the fact that there are consistently new members of the public in our audience.” –Ashlie Skidmore, President, Mesquite Symphony Orchestra
What do you see as your orchestra’s role in your community?
The Mesquite Symphony Orchestra, under the baton of Music and Artistic Director Felix Torres, is an ambassador to our community, consistently breaking down stereotypes and barriers of getting first-time audiences into the concert hall!
Mesquite Symphony Orchestra
We routinely ask from the stage during a performance, “Who’s attending their first Mesquite Symphony performance this evening? Who’s attending their first orchestra concert this evening?” We celebrate—through programming, mission, advertisement, or other means—the fact that there are consistently new members of the public in our audience during a time in our society when so many orchestras are struggling to sell tickets and subscriptions while maintaining cultural relevance, particularly to younger generations.
Cece Smith, Board Chair, Dallas Symphony Orchestra
What do you see as your orchestra’s role in your community?
The Dallas Symphony Orchestra, like all the leading American orchestras, serves as a cultural cornerstone of the city. Our role is to serve the community, and we are committed to doing so, not just through presenting world-class performances in the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center, but also by bringing great music to audiences beyond the concert hall, from parks to shopping centers to street fairs. The DSO fosters meaningful connections with the community through outreach events, more than 200 free concerts across the city each year and collaborations with local organizations all year long. Additionally, the DSO is unwavering in our commitment to educational outreach. Among other wonderful education offerings, we provide free music lessons to more than 1,200 students as part of both our Young Strings and Kim Noltemy Young Musicians programs.
“We must continue to expand our impact, offering diverse programming at the highest artistic level as well as transformational education initiatives.” –Cece
Smith, Board Chair, Dallas Symphony Orchestra
What is your philosophy of governance for nonprofits like orchestras? How involved should boards of directors be in day-to-day operations?
Our philosophy for governance is that we, the strategic leaders of the organization, are some of the primary ambassadors for the DSO in the community by growing our audience and ensuring long-term financial success and sustainability. We take a more hands-off
approach to day-to-day operations and focus on overall strategy and vision for the organization; I have the utmost confidence in our President and CEO Kim Noltemy’s ability to lead the charge in daily operations.
What’s your vision for your orchestra in the future? What’s your message for orchestras in the future?
My vision for the DSO is international visibility and recognition for the
Dallas Symphony Orchestra
partnership between Music Director Fabio Luisi and our incredible musicians, which has created a strong ensemble with a uniquely “Dallas” sound. Overall, we must continue to expand our impact, offering diverse programming at the highest artistic level as well as transformational education initiatives to ensure that the orchestra’s relevance and influence endure for generations to come.
What inspires you to volunteer to serve on your orchestra’s board?
What inspires me to serve on YOSA’s board is the profound potential to make a lasting impact on the wellbeing of our community. In a world where disconnection feels all too prevalent, I am driven by the opportunity to create a sense of
belonging, especially among younger generations who are navigating a landscape shaped by technology and isolation. Additionally, the chance to expand creativity into new minds and foster diversity of innovation fuels my dedication to this role. What do you see as your orchestra’s role in your community?
Our orchestras are the pulse of the city, fostering a sense of belonging, and inviting everyone to share in its rhythm. Our intentional programming sends a message of inclusion to our musicians and community. With initiatives like YOSA Rising Star Fellows, YOSA MÁS, and curated programs, we deepen our commitment to the community, amplifying our mission to change lives through music. What’s your vision for the orchestra field? How should orchestras adapt to changing times?
I believe that orchestras of the future must be not only relevant and vibrant but also inspiring, reflecting the diversity of the communities they serve. To adapt to changing times, orchestras need to creatively innovate in their artistic
“Our orchestras are the pulse of the city, fostering a sense of belonging, and inviting everyone to share in its rhythm. Our intentional programming sends a message of inclusion.” –Rachel Woodson, Chair, Youth Orchestras of San Antonio
programming, program delivery, and audience development strategies. YOSA continues its Classic Albums Live series with this in mind, reinventing classic rock and pop songs with orchestral accompaniment, with past celebrations of Prince, Queen, the Beatles, and Selena.
PIPER STARNES is a journalist who specializes in music and film. She has written for Opera America, Syracuse.com, Rochester City, and Charleston City Paper. She holds a bachelor’s degree from Clemson University in performing arts for keyboard instruments and a master’s degree from Syracuse University in Arts Journalism and Communications.
Rachel Woodson, Chair, Youth Orchestras of San Antonio
Youth Orchestras of San Antonio
At the League Impact Report 2023
The League’s annual Impact Report documents the many ways that the League serves nearly 650 member orchestras and their staff, musicians, board members, volunteers, and everyone who works to make the music happen. The 2023 Report features detailed examples of impact in five key areas of the League’s support for orchestras: advocacy; research; convenings and events; equity, diversity, and inclusion; and learning and leadership.
Impact Report 2023
The 2023 Impact Report includes detailed program information, along with descriptions and quantitative data that illustrate the League’s leadership and service on behalf of the orchestra field over the past year. Read it online at americanorchestras.org/2023-impact-report/
Dear Friends,
We are pleased to share our 2023 Impact Report highlighting many areas of the League’s work in support of orchestras—all made possible through your generosity. Your support fuels our mission “to champion the vitality of music and the orchestral experience, support the orchestra community, and lead change boldly.”
The League’s new Vision, Mission, and Commitments reflect the organization’s dual role as a membership association supporting the field and as a leadership organization advocating for continuous evolution. Our commitment to the work of equity, diversity, and inclusion continues to flow through everything we do, reflecting its central importance to justice, to creativity, and to orchestras’ long-term ability to realize their missions in their communities.
We are inspired by the creativity taking place in orchestras around the country and appreciate the opportunity to serve nearly 650 member orchestras and their dedicated staff, musicians, board members, volunteers, and all who work to make the music happen. Thank you for being part of the League’s philanthropic community! With gratitude, Simon Woods, President and CEO
Craig T. Matthew, Matthew Imaging
Advocacy
The League partnered with the Small Business Administration to guide orchestras through completion of the Shuttered Venue Operators Grant program; 340 orchestras in 48 states received more than $267,000,000 in essential COVID-19 relief and continue to receive guidance from the League on complete access to all forms of COVID19 relief.
The League also led an unprecedented dialogue across the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, State Department, Immigration Services, Customs and Border Protection, and arts stakeholders to advance urgent improvements to the U.S. artist visa process, and helped orchestras obtain visas through our direct assistance and dedicated website, www.artistsfromabroad.org. Advocacy with national partners resulted in a message from the U.S. Congress to the U.S. Department of Education, calling for immediate action to support equitable access to arts education for students nationwide. Orchestras have tapped the League’s Music Education Advocacy tools to support action in their own communities.
In May 2023, the League launched the Know Your Bow campaign, a collaboration with the American Federation of Musicians, bow makers associations, and global music partners to support musicians’ instruments and the sustainability of endangered species. We represented musical instrument stakeholders in critical conversations about protected species at two meetings of global participants in the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) taking place in Geneva, Switzerland.
Conference 2023
Nearly 1,100 delegates representing 248 orchestras, arts organizations, and businesses from 46 states gathered in Pittsburgh, June 14–16 for the League’s 2023 National Conference. The Conference theme was “building bridges” toward a sustainable future for orchestras that is both artistically creative and reflective of our communities. Together, attendees learned about effective business practices, healthy organizational cultures, orchestra demographic trends, and the current philanthropic environment, and discussed how to redefine the art form’s relevance, especially for the next generation.
This map displays the 340 orchestras in 48 states that have collectively received more than $267,000,000 in Shuttered Venue Operators Grants.
Heather Noonan, the League’s Vice President for Advocacy, represented American orchestras at the plants committee meeting of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) in Geneva, Switzerland.
Byron Stripling’s speech at the Closing Luncheon and Plenary session was a Conference highlight.
Among the highlights were performances by the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Pittsburgh Youth Symphony Orchestra, and Three Rivers Young Peoples Orchestras, as well as an inspiring Closing Session keynote speech by Byron Stripling, Principal Pops Conductor of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, who talked about the power of music to transform lives and communities. The League’s highest honor, the Gold Baton Award, was presented to Deborah Borda, President and CEO of the New York Philharmonic, in recognition of her distinguished service to America’s orchestras.
League Alumni Network
The League Alumni Network hosted two virtual and four in-person gatherings in 2023, bringing together over 160 alumni spanning five decades of League leadership programs. Alumni gathered twice in New York City where
they attended a New York Philharmonic concert and reception at the Juilliard School; convened during the League’s National Conference in Pittsburgh; and enjoyed a group dinner and concert by the San Francisco Symphony. These convenings provided valuable opportunities for alumni to share stories, network, and collaborate with one another both within and beyond the orchestra field.
Inclusive Stages
The League launched the new Inclusive Stages program, a major national initiative to increase the racial diversity of musicians in American orchestras. In total, 64 orchestras are participating in the program, representing the full range of budget sizes and geographic regions. A key component of Inclusive Stages is a National Coalition comprised of 28 orchestras, all of whom are actively working on milestone goals to increase racial representation of musicians onstage. There are also three separate research projects: the Inclusion Index, a new tool to allow orchestras to assess and benchmark their organizational cultures; the Audition Applicant Demographics Survey, which will provide data on a national basis about the musician applicant pool; and the Audition and Tenure Practices Survey, which will enable the field to better understand current processes and their prevalence.
Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation Orchestral Commissions Program
In December 2023, the Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation Orchestral Commissions Program launched a second 30-orchestra consortium that will premiere new works by six women composers beginning in the 2024–25 season and continuing the following year. Since its inception in 2014, the Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation Orchestral Commissions Program has shown impressive results in increasing the number of new works and repeat performances by women composers: 28 composers have received commissions, 21 premieres have been completed, and many of the composers have received additional commissions and career opportunities as a direct result of participating in the program.
Anne Parsons Leadership Program
The Anne Parsons Leadership Program launched its inaugural cohort of six women and nonbinary orchestra professionals and aims to ultimately improve gender equity in executive orchestra leadership.
“Through working with this first cohort of talented, intellectually curious, and dedicated women, it is clear to me that this program will transform our industry and ensure gender balance on
Reception for alumni of League leadership programs at the Juilliard School, July 2023.
Juan Patino Photography
The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, soloist María Dueñas, and Music Director Manfred Honeck performed on the first evening of the League’s 2023 Conference, followed by the PSO-hosted Tune-Up party for all Conference delegates.
Jason Cohn
Deborah Borda received the Gold Baton, the League’s highest honor, at the 2023 Conference.
Jason Cohn
the CEO level to enable our field to grow and thrive in the 21st century.”
—Kim Noltemy, President and CEO, Dallas Symphony Orchestra, and mentor, Anne Parsons Leadership Program
Student Leadership Council
The League announced its first-ever Student Leadership Council in November 2023 to support the growth of student engagement within the orchestral field. These students are bringing their voices to the League’s strategic thinking, developing content for the League’s 2024 National Conference and student constituency programming, and creating pathways for a new generation of orchestra professionals.
League Insights
A partnership with TRG Arts and its Arts & Culture Benchmark provided access to a large set of real-time orchestra patron data, including ticket sales, donation revenue, and patron demographics. League Insights on the aggregated data
are helping the field understand current patron behavior and enabling orchestra leaders to craft more strategic and engaging customer outreach.
Webinars
Eight live webinars in 2023 contributed to an ever-growing library of on-demand offerings that serve as important pathways for the League to deliver knowledge and effective practices to individuals in all roles at orchestras nationwide. The two most popular webinars were centered around equity, diversity, and inclusion, with more than 300 registrants each. In total, more than 1,000 unique individuals from 351 orchestras and 64 arts organizations and businesses participated in 2023 webinars, with 22% participating in multiple webinars. Ninety-five percent of survey respondents plan to apply concepts and practices learned.
Catalyst Guide on Audience Diversification
The League produced the Catalyst Guide on Audience Diversification,
and mentors. Catherine Beeson, Assistant Principal Viola, Colorado Symphony; Kathryn Ginsburg, General Manager, Detroit Symphony Orchestra; Emma Kail, Executive Director, Grand Teton Music Festival; Kate Kammeyer, former Executive Director, Berkeley Symphony; Felecia Tchen Kanney, Vice President of Communications, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra; Pamela Calero Wardell, Senior Director of Development, Special and Capital Campaigns, Jacksonville Symphony; mentors Jennifer Barlament, Executive Director, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra; Marie-Hélène Bernard, President and CEO, St. Louis Symphony Orchestra; Kim Noltemy, President and CEO, Dallas Symphony Orchestra; Melia Tourangeau, President and CEO, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra.
highlighting the endeavors of 15 member orchestras that are pioneering innovative approaches to address the unique needs of their communities. This guide presents actionable strategies for success, insights into overcoming challenges, and case studies for the benefit of the entire field. The guide is seeing extraordinary engagement so far, with 4,000 views within the first two weeks following its launch and 400 registrants for an accompanying webinar.
Composers participating in the Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation Orchestral Commissions Program (clockwise from top left): Brittany J. Green; Moni (Jasmine) Guo; Karena Ingram; Meilina Tsui; Marina López; Chelsea Komschlies.
Composer Anna Clyne and Philadelphia Orchestra Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin; Clyne’s League commission, “The Moment,” was premiered by the Philadelphia Orchestra.
The Philadelphia Orchestra
The Anne Parsons Leadership Program cohort
Jason Cohn
Essentials of Orchestra Management
The League’s Premier Leadership Development Program Class of 2023:
• 36 participants from 19 states, Canada, and Denmark
• 30+ faculty from across the orchestra field and beyond
• 15 scholarship recipients
• 12 sessions on artistic planning and leadership; development, finance, and strategic planning; equity, diversity, and inclusion; education and community engagement; human resources and organizational culture; leadership and governance; advocacy, marketing, and communications; and orchestra operations.
• 3 mentoring sessions
• 20% career advancement since summer program participation
Symphony
Symphony, the League’s signature digital and print publication, featured more than 750 breaking news briefs and reports on the critical issues, trends, people, and developments of the orchestra world. More than two dozen major articles took readers behind the scenes, examined how orchestras are adapting to contemporary expectations, and surveyed the strategies that are helping orchestras meet the challenges of the 21st century. Since launching in late 2022, the magazine’s new symphony.org website receives an average of 25,000 views per month (compared to the League’s previous news site, The Hub, which received 14,000 views per month). The most widely viewed articles include “Forward Thinking: Rethinking Orchestra Governance” by League President and CEO Simon Woods and “Change Agents” by Naveen Kumar on the new leaders in equity, diversity, and inclusion at orchestras.
Essentials of Orchestra Management Class of 2023.
Head of the Class
The League’s new Student Leadership Council brings forward the voices and perspectives of young people—who are the future of the orchestra field. They will collaborate with the League in building inclusive pathways for a new generation of diverse and creative professionals to enter the orchestra field and forge a thriving future for orchestras.
In November, the League of American Orchestras launched a new Student Leadership Council, the first in its 81-year history, to provide a platform for the League to better understand and integrate the voices of young people into its work and to support the growth of student engagement in the orchestra field. The Student Leadership Council is part of a renewed commitment to increase participation by young people and incorporate their ideas into the League’s work, as outlined in the League’s Strategic Framework 2023–2026. The five students in the Leadership Council will bring their voices to the League’s strategic thinking, develop content for the League’s student constituency, and help create pathways for a new generation of professionals.
“It has so often been proven to me that young people hold the answers about the future,” said League President and CEO Simon Woods. “Not only do they bring creative thinking and fresh ideas, but they also view the world through the lens of fairness and equity, which is so vital for our field. They will be the next generation of orchestra musicians, staff, audience members, donors, and volunteers, so we need to be listening to them now if we are to future-proof our field for the coming generation.”
Five high school, college, and graduate students from across the country—Lorin Green, Julia Jacobsen, William Ryan, Max Stephenson, and Lauren Zwonik—were selected to serve on the 2023–24 Student Leadership Council.
The students will participate in quarterly council meetings and take on leadership roles in a number of areas including:
For the League’s Student Constituency, assume responsibility for:
• Membership growth, benefits, surveys, and engagement on the League’s communications platform League360
• Student marketing and recruitment, including for the League’s 2024 National Conference in Houston
• Programming for both virtual Constituency Meetings as well as in-person at the Conference
• Advocate for increased visibility of youth voice and perspective by the League
• Serve as ambassadors in League academic and orchestral partnership expansion
• Collaborate with the League in strategically building inclusive pathways for a new generation of diverse and creative professionals to enter the orchestra field and flourish as leaders
• Promote a thriving future for orchestras
The League brought youth perspectives to the organization’s 2023 National Conference in Pittsburgh when, for the first time, over 1,000 delegates heard from students in a Closing Plenary session. Students were also featured in the highly rated session, Youth Perspectives on Engaging with Orchestras. Future plans to extend the League’s engagement with students include collaborations with music schools, conservatories, and orchestras. And Student Leadership Council members are playing vital roles at the League’s 2024 National Conference.
Meet the Student Leadership Council
Symphony asked members of the Student Leadership Council to share their thoughts on where they see orchestras today and tomorrow—and what it will take to get there.
Below are their thoughts, along with a brief bio for each and the names of the orchestra professionals they were paired with as mentors, based on the student’s orchestra career aspirations.
Things I Wish I Knew
By Lorin Green
CV: DMA 2025 in flute performance, University of Washington; community relations manager, Seattle Symphony; panelist, League of American Orchestras’ 2023 National Conference; participant, League of American Orchestras’ Essentials of Orchestra Management, 2023. Student Leadership Council mentor: Anwar Nasir, executive director of the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra.
There are many things that I wish I knew from a younger age. I wish that I knew that there was not one path or “the right” path. My time studying and working in the arts has shown me that trying to fit into a certain role or align to a singular path is limiting. Paths can be circles, hills, oceans, mountains and
much more. I went to music school and thought that everything I learned was going to set me up for the exact career I wanted. This was not true, and I wish I had known that.
I wish that someone had told me that I was limitless, and my opportunities were limitless, but it should be my why that guides me. I wish I had known that it was ok to change my mind, and that success can be measured in multiple ways. I deviated from my singular path as an orchestral musician because I saw a new path within non-profit work and arts administration. I would not have been able to see that path if I had not allowed myself to look around. I wish I knew that you can be on more than one path at a time, that there are hidden journeys that you are unable to see at the start of a new path. I wish I would have known that some paths merge eventually.
I wish that I could have seen the person I am now, the various roles I play, and the variety of people I get to collaborate with and serve. I wish I knew that I could be fulfilled in more than one way. I wish more people had asked me why. I wish our schools had asked us why instead of focusing on just what and how. I wish I knew that I would constantly rediscover my why.
Joining the League of American Orchestras Student Leadership Council was another moment where I answered my why. I am here because I recognize that art is everything. I am here because I believe art belongs to all of us and the barriers to access within the arts are what will be our downfall. I am here because the voices of future stewards of our field should be heard.
I wish I knew that I knew this all along, and I wish I had allowed myself to speak out more and not be afraid of being divergent, because I was going towards something greater — something bigger than I could see. We as a field must diverge from the one-dimensional path that we have been set on for so long so that we can see the other paths that lay ahead. I wish we would allow ourselves to see what we were capable of.
Working Towards Accessible, Inclusive Concerts
By Julia Jacobsen
CV: BM 2025, BS 2025 in violin performance and marketing, University of South Carolina; student digital marketing coordinator, USC School of Music; marketing and design assistant, social media coordinator, Boulanger Initiative. Student Leadership Council mentor: Carlos Vicente, vice president of marketing and sales, Walton Arts Center.
As an early-career violinist and marketer for music organizations, I often observe the inner workings of the orchestras around me whether I am actively playing with them, working in their office, or attending a performance. From the moment a new season is announced to seeing the crowd on the day of the concert, I have learned of the long journey it takes for a curious community member to become a patron of the arts. This
perspective is further shaped by my advocacy work as the Creative Marketing Manager at Boulanger Initiative, an organization that promotes women and gender-marginalized composers, and in the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee at the University of South Carolina (USC) School of Music. For communities historically excluded from the concert hall, this customer journey is lengthy and difficult. There is much to be done to create an accessible, inclusive, and exciting space that brings new audiences to our music. Moreover, after completing my honors senior thesis at USC titled “Broadening Classical Music Audiences Through Inclusive Marketing and Accessible Concert Experiences,” I have learned of a wide array of successful marketing approaches that have proven to increase audience attendance and expand an orchestra’s reach to new communities, especially for medium- and smaller-budget orchestras.
Pre-Concert
As administrators, we often view our work from our own familiar lens and less through the eyes of someone experiencing the fruits of our labor for the very first time. Thus, we must constantly be wearing the curious community member’s shoes when designing the website, crafting emails, and creating marketing materials. This should involve significant experimentation and A/B testing with a watchful eye on bounce rates, open rates, and conversions. Since every orchestra serves a different community, there is no one-size-fits-all strategy on how to engage those communities before they make it to the concert hall.
Concert Day
It’s essential to understand that while 40% of orchestras’ sales come from new ticket buyers (according to a report by the League), the challenge lies in encouraging these individuals to return. Curating that first-time concert attendee experience is crucial for creating lifelong patrons. Major pain points for newcomers include parking, signage, and concert hall etiquette. Information about parking options should be accessible from event pages and communicated to first-timers both in email communications after the ticket purchase and on social media. Branded signage throughout the inside and outside of the performing space can give attendees a sense of peace and reduce confusion, as well as give the orchestra more visibility. Although etiquette during orchestral performances is constantly evolving, making newcomers aware of the typical conventions early on (like clapping after jazz solos or arias in an opera) can help prevent them from feelings of anxiety or exclusion during the performance. These issues will likely vary across orchestral audiences, which is why it is important to analyze user experiences after attending the performance.
Post-Concert
Collecting patron feedback is an incredibly useful and affordable way to gain an in-depth understanding of how the orchestra’s systems are working and glean demographic, psychographic, and behavioral information from your attendees. You only ever get one chance to experience an orchestral performance for the first time, so capturing data from that experience can be informative when making decisions to help increase the size of future audiences. Post-concert surveys have seen significant
input when included in thank-you communications after a performance, and may even alert you and your colleagues to issues that have yet to be considered and remedied. Lastly, I would like to sing the praises of Aubrey Bergauer’s book Run It Like A Business. She expertly melds overarching strategy with concrete tactics, providing an incredible amount of useful information that anyone involved with an orchestra would benefit from learning. This is the best guide on evolving an orchestra into a successful business currently out there and worth the read.
I am incredibly thankful to the League for allowing me to serve on its Student Leadership Council and engage with fellow students and professional colleagues interested in orchestral music and arts administration. This commitment to fostering the next generation of leaders in our field is a commitment to the future of orchestras as a whole.
Building Your Orchestra for the Future
By Max Stephenson
CV: BMO 2024 in trumpet, outside field in Business with minor in marketing, Ithaca College; operations manager, Cayuga Chamber Orchestra Youth Orchestra; operations manager, World Civic Orchestra; intern, Cayuga Chamber Orchestra. Student Leadership Council mentor: Kelly Woodhouse Boston, director of operations, Seattle Symphony.
In 2017, I auditioned for the inaugural season of the Cayuga Chamber Orchestra Youth Orchestra (CCOYO). Now, as Operations Manager of the CCOYO, I have had the opportunity to come full circle with the organization and have since been deeply involved in orchestral communities. Working also with the World Civic Orchestra (WCO), I have the privilege of fostering an environment where musicians of all ages, backgrounds, and nationalities come together to celebrate the universal language of music. Through these experiences, I have developed a unique perspective on the role that musicians, music directors, and administrators all play in the social responsibility of an orchestra within its community.
With each passing year, it has become increasingly clear to me that community engagement is vital for the health of an orchestra and its relationships with schools, teachers, donors, and other community partners. Beyond the traditional community concerts and outreach programs that we are all familiar with, I believe further efforts to make orchestras more approachable should be explored.
Having recently invested significant energy in the recruitment and audition seasons of the CCOYO and WCO, I have begun asking myself a crucial question: Is the organization that I am promoting truly approachable?
In short, would most people feel welcomed into my orchestra without receiving heavy marketing materials? This question is positioned to consider prospective performers, although I
would argue that it can also be applied to prospective audience members, donors, and partners.
As discussed at the League’s 2023 Conference, changing trends in donor and audience demographics reveal a striking reality of what orchestras could look like in the next few decades if major efforts are not made to foster younger, more diverse audiences. Depending on organizational circumstances, such efforts could take the form of expanded transportation to concert halls, reduced ticket costs for students, or artistic programming and marketing tailored for younger populations, not to mention increased diversity and representation on stage. If someone cannot see themselves represented on stage, an environment that is inviting and approachable has not been fully achieved.
As you weigh your options, consider polling your local communities to gather the most relevant and directly applicable feedback possible. Each orchestra exists in a unique environment, so what works for one may not work for all. Testing new strategies can be unnerving and stressful, especially against tried-and-true blueprints that have been successful in the past. Any and all efforts to develop a stronger support system from young and diverse audiences should be encouraged and nurtured; it is an incredibly important task, both to foster diversity, equity, and inclusion and maintain financial sustainability for the future.
True Authenticity
By Lauren Zwonik
CV: DMA 2024 in flute performance, with Certificate in University Teaching, University of Nevada, Las Vegas; personnel manager for the UNLV Opera Orchestra; treasurer and board member, Las Vegas Flute Club; community internship graduate assistant, Las Vegas Philharmonic; panelist, League of American Orchestras’ 2023 National Conference. Student Leadership Council mentor: Rebecca Cain, vice president of orchestra operations, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra.
How can we, as classical music orchestras, create authenticity in our communities?
We each have memories that stick with us throughout our careers as arts administrators. A core memory for me actually comes from a music history pedagogy course during my masters. This professor not only focused on how to teach music history, but they stressed the need to focus on the core subject of every class: the students. Their thoughts can be applied to any discipline, whether we are assuming the role of educator, performer, or arts administrator.
This professor asked the class three questions: Do your people feel seen? Do your people feel heard? Do your people feel loved?
For the people who want to feel seen: what could that look like in our orchestras? For the people who want to feel heard: what could that sound like in our orchestras? For the people who want to feel loved: what could that feel like in our orchestras?
During my time as a young professional, traveling the world and witnessing genuine authentic connections, a few similarities have stuck out to me.
1. Humility and the willingness to learn help to build meaningful relationships with our patrons, staff, and musicians. If we continue to remind ourselves that we are all human, making mistakes can ultimately help to break barriers between us, our staff members, our business partners, and our audiences. This ultimately allows us to grow along the way.
2. Authenticity can also be manifested by taking time to focus on the individual. Arts organizations can sometimes feel like we have to juggle multiple tasks, events, and conversations to keep afloat. However, by taking the extra step to block out the to-do lists and looming projects while working with one person, that relationship automatically becomes stronger and healthier. It shows that the person is the most important part of our day; we are actively choosing to be active and engaged during that shared time together.
3. We must always remember that actions speak louder than words. What we choose to say versus how we act can highlight two opposing ideas. This can be seen by following through on our action plans and strategic planning, continuing the work towards inclusion and representation of underrepresented groups, and committing to the well-being and growth of a positive work environment. With just a few ideas highlighted above, authenticity should be at the core of every arts and nonprofit mission statement.
If we guide our daily interactions with these three questions and actions of authenticity, I truly believe that we can lead our teams, musicians, and our communities towards a path of greater empathy and compassion.
William Ryan
CV: 2024 graduate, Burncoat High School; composer, violinist, and concertmaster, High School Orchestra, Worcester Youth Orchestra, and Joy of Music Youth Orchestra; panelist, League of American Orchestras’ 2023 National Conference. Student Leadership Council mentor: Andrea Reinkemeyer, composer. William Ryan was not available to provide a comment for this article by press time.
Learn more about the Student Leadership Council at https://americanorchestras.org/connect/constituency-groups/ student-leadership-council/
What It Takes to Build Audiences and Sustainability
The Wallace Foundation’s five-year Building Audiences for Sustainability Initiative explored how nonprofits arts groups—including four orchestras— could expand audiences and boost revenue. A new report reveals what worked, what was less successful, possible ways forward, and some surprising results.
From 2015 to 2019, the Wallace Foundation conducted the Building Audiences for Sustainability Initiative, a major, cross-discipline study of how nonprofit performing arts organizations sought to build their audiences while also increasing revenue. Twenty-five arts groups—including the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, New York Philharmonic, Oakland East Bay Symphony, and Seattle Symphony—tested different approaches to building new audiences while keeping their current audiences engaged. Read the complete report on the Wallace initiative, by Francie Ostrower, at https://wallacefoundation.org/report/search-magic-bullet-results-building-audiences-sustainability-initiative-results-building.
Here’s a summary of key discoveries of the initiative, courtesy of the Wallace Foundation.
In Search of the Magic Bullet: Results from the Building Audiences for Sustainability Initiative
There is no magic bullet for arts organizations looking to build their audiences while also increasing revenue. While it’s possible to engage both new and current audiences using a variety of strategies, successful audience building may not always happen on the organization’s desired terms. It also might not bring the hoped-for financial gains, at least not right away.
That’s one of several key learnings from the nonprofit performing arts organizations who participated in Wallace’s Building Audiences for Sustainability (BAS) initiative from 2015 to 2019. The 25 organizations tested different approaches to build new audiences while keeping their current audiences engaged. Some focused on age groups, such as millennials or Gen-X; others looked at location and how they interacted with their community. Some worked to attract a more racially or ethnically diverse audience. A few sought to build audiences for new or less familiar works.
What Worked?
To find out which approaches worked and which were less successful, researchers from the University of Texas at Austin drew on extensive interviews with BAS organizations’ leadership and staff. They also looked at ticketing data and audience surveys for a subset of 15 BAS organizations. Notably, most of this subset were able to expand their target audience. Increases, however, were often more modest than initially hoped-for gains, and did not result in an overall growth in attendance.
Researchers learned that some audience-building approaches were more effective than others. Many organizations discovered that changing how they communicated about programming with prospective audiences made a difference. In publicizing new work, for example, one organization learned that “world premieres” held little cachet for the audience they sought to reach. Providing audiences with a sense of what to expect from the performance, however, was impactful.
Successful audience-building strategies meet audiences where they are.
With audience building, organizations should determine their goal at the outset.
Changing how program information was delivered to audiences also made a difference: expanding use of digital communications (email, social media, video) to share important and informative content was consistently effective.
What Fell Short?
Other audience-building approaches often did not work as anticipated. For example, the results of “crossover strategies”— when organizations presented different types of programs specifically to attract new audiences with the hope that these audiences would then attend traditional programming—were consistently disappointing. This led many organizations to
On April 11, the Wallace Foundation presented a
Nonprofit Arts Organizations
webinar, “In
and
explore the findings of Wallace’s Building Audiences for Sustainability initiative. The webinar was led by Francie Ostrower, principal investigator of Building Audiences for Sustainability and a professor at University of Texas at Austin, joined by leaders who participated in the Building Audiences for Sustainability program for an in-depth look at results of the study. Webinar panelists include Mieko Hatano, executive director, Oakland Symphony; Andrew Jorgensen, general director, Opera Theatre of St. Louis; Cookie Ruiz, executive director, Ballet
Roche Edward Schulfer, executive director/CEO, Goodman Theatre; and Bahia Ramos and Bronwyn Bevan of the Wallace Foundation. Check out the webinar and more at https://wallacefoundation.org/resource/ presentation/webinar-search-magic-bullet
free
Search of the Magic Bullet: Insights from
on Building Audiences
Financial Sustainability,” that
Austin;
question the myth of what one interviewee described as the “long, slow escalator,” a long-held theory that audience members slowly progress from a first visit to more frequent attendance to ultimately becoming subscribers and donors.
And some approaches produced mixed results. For example, organizations had varied success using performances at off-site venues to attract new audiences to mainstage productions.
What Are the Implications?
Audience building is hard work. Organizations should determine their goal at the outset. Is it, for example, to expand audiences, even if it involves changing or expanding their programming? Or is the goal to build audiences strictly for what they already do? Each requires a different focus and strategies.
All of the BAS organizations used data and market research to understand what worked and what didn’t. The data helped them understand and revise long-held assumptions about their particular audiences. It helped them better connect and communicate with new audiences as well.
Using data also highlighted the pitfalls of advocating for approaches without first assessing costs and benefits. It steered some organizations away from judging success based on a single effort. And it helped underscore that there may be mission-driven reasons for pursuing a particular audience that might not boost finances and, in fact, might even require additional investment.
The final report explores these and other audience-building approaches that BAS organizations employed, as well as the financial implications of these efforts. Perhaps the most unexpected lesson for participating organizations was that audience building doesn’t depend on the audience alone. If arts organizations want to change how they engage with their audiences, they may first need to be open to changing themselves.
Key Takeaways
• Most BAS organizations expanded their target audience, although changes were often more modest than initially hoped-for gains and generally did not increase overall attendance, at least in the short term.
• Unexamined and unfounded assumptions often hindered organizations’ ability to connect with audiences they hoped to reach. Using data helped organizations uncover these assumptions.
• Successful audience-building strategies met audiences where they were. For example, using more welcoming and informative communication styles and expanding the use of digital and multimedia platforms usually worked.
• Offering unique programming specifically to attract new audiences, as well as presenting at off-site venues with the hope that these audiences would “crossover” to attend traditional programs were consistently ineffective.
• Over the course of the initiative, organizations saw overall audience gains, coupled with fewer subscribers and a decline in frequency of attendance. This suggests that organizations might need to attract and embrace more infrequent audience members and/or find ways to
If arts organizations want to change how they engage with their audiences, they may first need to be open to changing themselves.
What We Don’t Know
• This study was conducted with 25 large and well-established nonprofit arts organizations. How do these lessons apply for smaller, less well-established arts organizations?
cultivate deeper engagement with audiences.
• Targeted audience building does not necessarily predict growth in earned revenue. Organizations should acknowledge that some audience-building efforts require financial subsidy and serve other important needs that aren’t tied to financial health.
• The report describes long-term trends that preceded and were often exacerbated by the pandemic. Post pandemic interviews with organizational leaders suggested that the urgency of the pandemic has not yet yielded new solutions to long-term challenges. What does reimagining an institution look like?
Implementation Tips
• Clarify your goal in audience building. Are you trying to engage a specific audience, or expand overall attendance? Are you audience building to bring in additional revenue,
or to support a particular type of art that might not help your bottom line? Clarity around these questions will help you design more effective audience-building strategies.
• Consider the financial implications of audience-building efforts. Some audience-building initiatives will require financial subsidy, rather than generating earned income to cover costs. Beyond ticket sales, will grants, donations, or other subsidies be required to support your initiative?
• Use data and seek external input to surface unfounded assumptions, and be open to revisiting those assumptions. Organizations can ask for external input from audiences they hope to engage.
The Seattle Symphony was among the performing arts groups participating in the Wallace Foundation’s BAS initiative. The orchestra experimented with different concert programs and styles, including, in photo, a “Sonic Evolution” concert featuring Mike McCready, lead guitarist for Seattle-based grunge band Pearl Jam.
Brandon Patoc
ALL-AMERICAN RHAPSODY
Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue was an “experiment” when it premiered in 1924, opening orchestras to the startling new sounds and syncopations of jazz. Now the work is practically standard rep, and orchestras nationwide are marking its centenary with performances and events. Composers are reimagining the music and performers are forging fresh interpretations even as the work’s complex cultural legacy comes under renewed scrutiny.
By Jeremy Reynolds
The love theme on the back half of Rhapsody in Blue —that magnificent, slow melody—very nearly didn’t make it into the piece. According to Kurt Dieterle, a violinist who performed in the orchestra at the work’s premiere, Gershwin loathed sentimentality in music and tried to cut the section before the first performance. It took a fierce argument during rehearsal with orchestrator Ferde Grofé to set him straight, preserving one of America’s most whistleable pieces in history in its current form. More or less.
“Most performances today actually sound very different than what happened on February 12, 1924,” says Mitch Glickman, founder and conductor of the Symphonic Jazz Orchestra, an LA-based ensemble of nearly 70 studio players. Glickman met Dieterle before he passed away in the 1990s and recorded his recollections of that legendary first performance. This spring, Glickman gave a four-week lecture course at UCLA Extension on the Rhapsody, using stories from Dieterle and his own research. “I was also fortunate to get one of those early two piano sketches, and it just blew me away, because it’s not what most people are playing today,” Glickman says.
Glickman also conducted a performance in May with jazz pianist Marcus Roberts, whose improvisatory interpretation is closer to the original premiere version, which Glickman referred to as “lightning in a bottle” and a pivotal moment in American music history.
To mark the work’s centennial, musicians, orchestras, and writers around the country are paying heightened attention to the Rhapsody. Many ensembles are playing the traditional 1942 version
for piano and full orchestra. Some are playing historic and freshly composed responses to the piece, like composer Edmar Colón’s Rhapsody in Blue Reimagined , which welcomes additional musical cultures into Gershwin’s musical melting pot, or composer Peter Boyer’s Rhapsody in Red, White and Blue, an original composition making its way around all 50 states that doffs its cap to the original work in style only. There’s a new critical edition of the Gershwin score, released to coincide with the centenary, plus a plethora of media think pieces assessing the Rhapsody’s place in America’s musical culture. (Is it appropriative? Is it even good? Why all the fuss?)
An autographed copy of George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue
Los Angeles Times
George Gershwin at the piano.
was first performed, along with works by Victor Herbert, Irving Berlin, and others.
“In the 1920s, American sort of society jazz was in its own particular corner of the musical boxing ring, and classical music was in the opposite corner,” says Anthony Parnther, music and artistic director of California’s San Bernadino Symphony. Rhapsody in Blue “was one of the places where they first met.”
Roberts’ version is an expansive, jazzier take on the piece, with Roberts in a trio with bass and percussion improvising their way through sections of the music, more like Gershwin’s original performance. “If you see a set of drums and some kind of bass guitar and some kind of keyboard or lead guitar, you now have a rhythm section, which is probably one of the most important contributions that jazz music has made to American music,” Roberts says. “When people go to see a rock ‘n’ roll group, they don’t always realize that that comes from jazz. This piece brought that into the concert hall.”
Sin in Syncopation
Ah, the ‘20s. It was a time of prohibition and speakeasies and bullish extravagance. Not to mention Jim Crow laws
In March of 2024, the San Bernardino Symphony Orchestra and Music and Artistic Director Anthony
marked the centennial of Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue by performing a new critical edition of the score with pianist David Kaplan. The concert also featured works by William Grant Still, Valerie Coleman, Abrahan Alexander, and songs associated with Tina
To mark the work’s centennial, musicians, orchestras, and writers around the country are paying heightened attention to the Rhapsody.
that kept Black musicians and jazz from the stage until a white musician stepped in. Paul Whiteman (yes, the name now seems ironic) started his music career as a conventional violist in the Denver and then San Francisco symphonies before
getting bit by the jazz bug and moving to New York. He founded the most popular band of the decade, the Paul Whiteman Orchestra, bringing jazz into the concert hall in defiance of his musically conservative father.
A poster promoting bandleader Paul Whiteman’s 1924 “Experiment in Modern Music” concert at which Rhapsody in Blue
In 1945, Warner Brothers released Rhapsody in Blue , a fictionalized biopic of composer George Gershwin, who had died of a brain tumor in 1937 at age 38. In addition to stars Robert Alda and Alexis Smith, the film featured performers including Al Jolson and Paul Whiteman performing the Gershwin music they had first introduced, including the title score.
Parnther
Turner, Carole King, Aretha Frankin, and Simon and Garfunkel.
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This was not a simple process. Back then jazz, or jaz, or jas, was seen as a dangerous, corrupting influence. Thomas Edison said that he played jazz records backward because they sounded better that way. A famous educator quipped that jazz “puts the sin in syncopation.” (“I want that one on a bumper sticker,” says Glickman, who keeps a folder of such invective.)
To prove the merits of this emerging style, Whiteman decided to put on the concert of the decade, “An Experiment in Modern Music,” a huge swing for the fences, a four-hour monolith of an all-jazz educational concert to which he invited major names in the music industry and the press. “I sincerely believe in jazz. I think it expresses the spirit of America and I feel sure it has a future,” he later wrote. “I want to help that future pan out. Other Americans ought to be willing to give jazz a respectful hearing.”
Whiteman put in $11,000 of his own money, which, adjusted for inflation, comes to around $200,000 in today’s money. He only earned back about $4,000 (adjusted, that would be about $73,000 today). “Back in the 1920s, American sort of society jazz was in its own particular corner of the musical boxing ring, and classical music was in the opposite corner,” says conductor Anthony Parnther, who premiered a new 2024 critical edition of the score with California’s San Bernadino Symphony Orchestra, where he is music and artistic
In the 1920s, a famous educator quipped that jazz music “puts the sin in syncopation.”
director, in March. “This was one of the places where they first met, briefly.”
Whiteman commissioned composers like Irving Berlin and Zez Confrey in addition to Gershwin, who was already working with jazz elements in his compositions and with whom Whiteman had previously collaborated. According to legend, Gershwin either turned down the commission or forgot he’d accepted it until about a month before the concert, and he wrote the score in a frantic dash. The exact details are foggy, but what’s certain is that Whiteman’s arranger Ferde Grofé orchestrated the piano score in a bit over a week, and that Gershwin left himself ample room to improvise at the piano during the premiere, which he played himself—a rather Beethovenian flourish—nodding to Whiteman when he was wrapping up his solos to cue the band. (Grofé, composer of such works as Grand Canyon Suite, orchestrated the 1926 version of Rhapsody in Blue for pit band and the 1942 version for symphony orchestra.)
Gershwin, anticipating pushback, wrote at the time: “There had been so much chatter about the limitations of jazz, not to speak of the manifest misunderstandings of its function. Jazz, they said, had to be in strict time. It had
to cling to dance rhythms. I resolved, if possible, to kill that misconception with one sturdy blow... I heard it as a sort of musical kaleidoscope of America—of our vast melting-pot, of our unduplicated national pep, of our blues, our metropolitan madness.”
On February 12, 1924, the “Experiment in Modern Music” concert took place at the packed Aeolian Hall in Manhattan. The Rhapsody, which received a reported five curtain calls, is the only work on the original program still heard regularly today.
Sequels
Still, the performance opened the door to an explosion of jazz-inflected compositions on the concert stage, in America and especially in Paris. As soon as 1927, Black pianist and composer James P. Johnson answered Gershwin’s Rhapsody with his own work, with orchestrations by William Grant Still. Yamecraw, a Negro Rhapsody for piano and orchestra also blends jazz and classical styles, though it makes more overt use of spirituals and is more laid back in character. (The Yamakraw were a Native American tribe in Georgia; Johnson’s Rhapsody is named for a Black town that adopted their name.) By 1955, accordionist John
Conductor Mitch Glickman refers to the 1924 premiere of Rhapsody in Blue as a pivotal moment in American music history. Glickman, seen here rehearsing the Symphonic Jazz Orchestra, an LA-based ensemble of nearly 70 players, gave a four-week lecture course at UCLA Extension on the Rhapsody this spring.
Alejandra Sone
Music Director Mitch Glickman leads the Symphonic Jazz Orchestra and trumpet soloist Keyon Harrold in a free May 2023 community concert in Long Beach, California. In May, Glickman conducted the orchestra and jazz pianist Marcus Roberts in Rhapsody in Blue
Alejandra Sone
The premiere of Rhapsody in Blue opened the door to an explosion of jazz-inflected compositions on the concert stage.
Serry had written his own bluesy American Rhapsody, perhaps foreshadowing banjo wizard Béla Fleck’s 2024 Rhapsody in Blue(grass), a more direct transcription and arrangement of Gershwin’s music.
Fleck’s version is admittedly impressive and a little odd, but it still strikes to the heart of what Gershwin’s Rhapsody is about: “Really, it represents this merging and melding that is sort of like the core of American music,” says pianist Lara Downes, who premiered Edmar Colón’s Rhapsody in Blue Reimagined at the San Francisco Conservatory
of Music in October 2023. Composers have continued to put their own stamp on Gershwin’s music, with a great cluster of projects premiering in the centenary year, aided by the fact that the Rhapsody entered public domain in 2020.
The University of Northern Colorado Spectrum Studio Orchestra, for example, premiered Drew Zaremba’s Rhapsody in (Raag Jog) in January, fusing Indian sounds and melodies with jazz. In Reimagined , Downes worked with Puerto Rican composer Edmar Colón to “expand” Gershwin’s
American sound and story have grown exponentially in the last 100 years,” says pianist Lara Downes, who premiered Edmar Colón’s
in Blue Reimagined in October. The score has a section that invites ensembles to add local cultural flavor. “The world premiere happened in San Francisco, so that part was given to an ensemble of traditional Chinese instruments,” says Downes.
Pianist Lara Downes premiered Edmar Colón’s Rhapsody in Blue Reimagined with the San Francisco Conservatory of Music Orchestra and conductor Edwin Outwater in October 2023. A recording of the work was released on the Pentatone label in February 2024.
piece: “The American sound and story have grown exponentially in the last 100 years,” she says. The reimagining opens with clarinet and flute and brass, overlaying trills on top of one another, and there are Caribbean rhythms and Eastern melodic styles throughout the piece as well. There’s also a section in this version
Marcus Roberts performs with Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and a rhythm section.
Artist Management
“The
Rhapsody
Ebru Yildiz
Jazz pianist Marcus Roberts’ expansive interpretation of Rhapsody in Blue , which he performs with orchestra and rhythm section, evokes the improvisatory feeling of the work’s premiere.
John Douglas
Some view Rhapsody in Blue as
culturally appropriative and argue that its popularity has stolen attention from the Black musicians Gershwin listened to for inspiration.
Composer Peter Boyer says that for his new Rhapsody in
White and Blue , “I wanted the piece to have a sense of contemporary times and their difficulties but to capture something optimistic about our country and its direction.”
stolen attention from the Black musicians Gershwin listened to for inspiration.
the charged nature of the term today. “The term that I keep coming back to is ‘American themed,’” he says, adding that instead of directly quoting Gershwin, he tried to capture something of the optimism of the original work and something of the 1920s sound. “I didn’t want it to be ironic—I wanted the piece to have a sense of contemporary times and their difficulties but to capture something optimistic about our country and its direction.” That’s resonating with America’s orchestras. Ensembles in all 50 states are scheduled to perform Boyer’s Rhapsody, with pianist Jeffrey Biegel, who came up with the idea for the piece and who commissioned Boyer, at the keyboard. Biegel has exclusivity with the piece for three years, and orchestras are continuing to sign on to perform the work.
Banner Music
that allows different ensembles to add local cultural flavor. “The world premiere happened in San Francisco, so that part was given to an ensemble of traditional Chinese instruments,” Downes says.
Composer Peter Boyer avoids terms like “patriotic” when discussing his Rhapsody in Red, White and Blue, given
For all the original Rhapsody’s popularity, however, it attracts plenty of criticism as well. In January, pianist and composer Ethan Iverson riled Gershwinites with a New York Times essay that called it America’s “Worst Masterpiece,” echoing Leonard Bernstein’s assertion in the ‘50s that the Rhapsody isn’t “a real composition.” (Both admitted to quite liking the piece, though.) Other writers insist that the piece is culturally appropriative— which it is, by today’s standards—and argue that the Rhapsody’s popularity has
As early as the 19th century, Antonin Dvořák had asserted that America’s musical identity would evolve from African American spirituals. His own musings on the subject today read like a refutation of some of the claims leveled against Gershwin’s Rhapsody : “The point has been urged that many of these touching songs... have not been composed by the Negroes themselves, but are the work of white men, while others did not originate on the plantations, but were imported from Africa. It seems to me that this matters but little. One might as well condemn the Hungarian Rhapsody because Liszt could not speak Hungarian. The important thing is that the inspiration for such music should come from the right source, and that the music itself should be a true expression of the people’s real feelings.”
The Rhapsody couldn’t have been written by a Black composer and taken seriously in the 1920s any more than concert presenters would have allowed Whiteman to include Black musicians in his orchestra. (And he tried.) “Let’s acknowledge that a lot of things were done to African American people that were not correct,” says Marcus Roberts. “Let’s make sure it doesn’t happen again, but let’s not put any of that on poor George Gershwin.” Would Yamekraw have premiered at Carnegie Hall if Whiteman, Gershwin, and Grofé hadn’t first created the precedent? Would Gershwin have gone on to take Porgy and Bess —another work with a complex heritage—to the operatic stage? It’s not likely. And that’s Rhapsody in Blue’s real legacy. “That door to Black music and musicians shouldn’t have been closed, but Gershwin certainly helped open it,” Roberts says.
JEREMY REYNOLDS is the editor of Opera America Magazine and the classical music critic at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. A former clarinetist, he also writes program notes for a variety of orchestras and music festivals around the country.
On April 6, 2024, the Springfield Symphony Orchestra in Massachusetts performed Peter Boyer’s Rhapsody in Red, White and Blue , with Boyer on the podium and Jeffrey Biegel at the piano. Also on the program were works by Aaron Copland, Jennifer Higdon, and Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue Silver Photography
Red,
Dario
Acosta
Composer Peter Boyer and pianist Jeffrey Biegel with the score of Boyer’s Rhapsody in Red, White and Blue at a November 2023 recording session with the London Symphony Orchestra. Biegel commissioned the piece to mark the centennial of Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue , and 54 orchestras in all 50 U.S. states are scheduled to perform the work, with Biegel at the piano.
Benjamin Ealovega
AI Revolution
ChatGPT. NLP. ERP. AIOps. BPA. Acronyms and apps associated with emerging artificial intelligence are arriving fast and furious. What do advances in tech like generative AI mean for orchestras? Doug McLennan, an expert in new technologies and their impact on the arts, offers insights on evolving tech and the implications for orchestras: how orchestras relate to audiences, how they do business, and even how they make music.
By Naveen Kumar
It may feel like the age of artificial intelligence began with a big bang, when ChatGPT dropped in November 2022, and a flood of mind-boggling innovations rapidly followed. The expansion of AI from a tech-savvy hobby into a seismic disruptor across every major industry has been a sudden whirlwind, and most arts organizations are already playing catch-up.
But AI is the latest development in an age-old legacy for music and the arts: Every artform has evolved over time according to the tools available to create and share it. “The history of music is essentially a co-history with technology,” says Doug McLennan, the editor of ArtsJournal.com and an expert consultant for arts organizations on digital innovation.
In the realm of live performance, there is no replacing human musicians on stage with instruments in hand. But there are uses for AI across nearly every aspect of symphony orchestra operations, including an untold number that have yet to be realized. Dramatic swells in back-office efficiency, individualized audience engagement, and organizational optimization are very close at hand. And there are paradigm-upending questions about copyright, and the value of art in the age of generative AI, that artists and organizations urgently need to consider in order to have a say in their future.
“The biggest challenge is how we adapt to a different way of thinking,” McLennan says.
Doug McLennan.
As possibilities continue to expand, we may have to redefine what we think a symphony orchestra is.
“We’re talking about an exponential rate of change, which people have a lot of difficulty conceptualizing,” he adds. The AI revolution may have arrived without much warning, but it’s here now—not on the distant horizon. Symphony spoke to McLennan about how orchestras can use AI technologies to forge the next chapter in music history.
How can orchestras leverage AI to their advantage artistically?
Technology has always shaped orchestras. Valves in horns, metal plates in pianos to support string tension. Musicians have been using forms of AI for a long time, including digital workstations like Ableton Live, which allow you to sample virtually any sound and do almost anything you want to it.
AI is going to change the tools we use. Now, if you wanted to write a symphony there are barriers everywhere— technical skills like reading music, notating, and orchestrating, were all part of the creative process. We’ve always had musicians who play and compose by ear. But AI changes the process: instead of needing a long list of hard-won technical skills, a composer can describe what they want specifically, by telling the AI what to make and how it should sound. The distance from idea to realization and performance is transformed. That opens up the creative process to millions of people. And if it’s true that tools shape the art, then music will evolve in ways we don’t yet know.
AI expands the range of what we can hear, even eliminating technical and physical limitations, like the stretch of one’s hands on the piano. As possibilities continue to expand, we may have to redefine what we think a symphony orchestra is.
Do you think there’s reason for concern about AI encroaching on the creative process or the value of human artists?
There’s no mystery to much of the work that creative artists do; it’s technical, and much of it follows rules. Pop music, for instance, follows generic forms and chord progressions. If the creative tasks that
don’t have to be startlingly original get automated, is that a terrible thing? It is if you’re an artist who depends on that for your living. But it’s a difficult question to answer depending on where you are in the paradigm, whether you’re the artist, the performer, or the listener. I think AI is a tool, and creative artists will learn to use it in creative ways. Did Photoshop kill visual art? No, it evolved.
What are some of the potential uses of AI in orchestra operations? Are there ways AI can increase efficiency?
The structure of the business of orchestras is organized around specialties. You have marketers, people who work in development, production teams, data analysts, and so on, all with very specialized skills. We talk about transcending those silos in order to do our best work. In the era of AI, we’re going to see the rise of the creative generalist, and workers with specialized skills will become less important. That means somebody who gets the big picture and can use various AI tools to automate or create things that it used to take real people to do. So instead of the institution optimizing around delivering services internally, it optimizes around creating value. Again, if an institution is a tool, and tools shape what we can make, the institution of an orchestra or any arts institution will change as AI takes a bigger load of the processes that inform how orchestra institutions run. It’s a very different way of thinking about how work gets done.
The big beneficiaries of AI could be the smallest organizations. Think of a chamber music festival that has a staff of three people: If those are the right three people who know how to use AI to do all their accounting and marketing and analysis, the sophistication of the operation, the tools at its disposal, could be indistinguishable from a 10,000-person organization. And if larger companies with 100 people in the back office use AI, not to replace them, but to use them
in ways that support the creative product, that’s transformative of the business model. Suddenly your costs beyond the musicians are down, and your access to your community is expanded.
How can AI technologies help orchestras relate and appeal to audiences?
Someday we’re going to look back on this era as a kind of dark ages, when we were guessing about how to interact with our audiences, and people had difficulty finding or engaging with us. We’ve been guessing at people’s behavior, like with the big push to stage pop concerts in the hopes that those audiences would come back to see Mozart. Or when we send a solicitation email to a patron the day after a performance without knowing whether that kind of message might turn them off. We don’t know at the very individual level what resonates.
But in an AI environment, we can compare data outside of the typical structured data sets. The amount of data being produced about our behavior across the economy is increasing exponentially.
The thing to do is to jump in and start interacting with the tools.
We’re going to be able to interact with audiences, and potential audiences, at a granular level of understanding what they’re likely to respond to in a way that we never have before—partly because it wasn’t technically feasible, but also because of the manpower it would take to have personal relationships with everybody. We don’t have that ability yet, but eventually we’re going to take it for granted.
That increase in data won’t just impact marketing and audience acquisition, but will give you the ability to understand every point of data about how your organization runs, and help you make decisions based on what 100,000 other successful companies and organizations do.
It seems like a daunting shift in the way things work. How can orchestras get started on using AI right now?
The thing to do is to jump in and start interacting with the tools. Think of what you want to do, and explore to see if there are tools that might help you. We
Right now, there are at least a half dozen groups lobbying for, and writing, new copyright legislation in Washington that every orchestra is going to have to pay attention to.
learned a lot of lessons in the transition from the pre-internet world to the digital age. That shift was mostly driven by young people who didn’t have to unlearn a whole lot of things. But today, there are older people who’ve been online for 25 years and are incredibly digitally savvy, and 22-year-olds who have no sense of technology. The way you get good at it and start to understand what its uses are going to be is just to dive in and start doing it. And follow others who are exploring these ways of thinking to get a sense of where things are going.
What are some of the questions around intellectual property and policy that orchestras ought to be thinking about?
Every single Fortune 500 company is investing in AI because they know it’s going to change everything—and already is. In the arts, we’re going to get steamrolled if we don’t apply some really smart thinking about what’s happening. Right now, there are at least a half dozen groups lobbying for, and writing, new copyright legislation in Washington that every orchestra is going to have to pay attention to. We should be participating in that process.
Copyright in its current form never anticipated this new world in which to “own” an idea or a style changes how we think about intellectual property, so we need to figure out what makes sense to protect artists and creative work. When the digital age started, we never really clarified the value of creative material when it can be copied for free and mass-distributed. Now, AI has blown up the whole concept and we can’t remedy the problem with another Band-Aid. There are all sorts of questions around generative AI and ownership of music, personas, and the essence of who you are—even the word “copy” doesn’t fit.
There are all sorts of questions around generative AI and ownership of music, personas, and the essence of who you are.
Generative AI learns the rules by which you create, but it’s not you, and it’s certainly not a copy.
Every human artist is the product of the experiences they’ve had and the work of those they’ve encountered. A good artist is able to synthesize that into new work. And that’s what AI is doing, only on a massive scale, and creating new work. There are a lot of complicated questions being raised right now about how we perceive value and the definition of art, many related to age-old questions we’ve been wrestling with forever. Artists need to be central to those conversations.
NAVEEN KUMAR is a journalist and critic whose work appears in The New York Times, Variety, The Daily Beast, and more.
Exploring AI
The League’s 2024 National Conference in Houston will explore emerging tech—and the implications for orchestras—on June 8 with The AI Disruption is Here! In the session, Doug McLennan and League President and CEO Simon Woods will lay out the stakes for artists, orchestras, arts organizations, and the creative industries generally, identifying major challenges, opportunities and shifts in thinking that AI poses. The session is the first part of AI and the Future of Classical Music: How Artificial Intelligence Is Changing Creative Fields , a series of conversations that will delve into the opportunities of generative artificial intelligence and address the profound impact it has for classical music and the arts. AI and the Future of Classical Music: How Artificial Intelligence Is Changing Creative Fields is presented by the League of American Orchestras in partnership with ArtsJournal. The session in Houston will be followed by three webinars during the fall of 2024.
IN THE
More and more orchestras are performing and commissioning works by Native American composers and musical artists. Even with the expansive new interest in Indigenous composers, concerns remain about the lack of diversity at orchestras.
By Rita Pyrillis
A NOTE ON NOMENCLATURE: The terms Native American and American Indian are used interchangeably in this article. Native people prefer to be identified by their tribal affiliations, but when speaking of all of the Native Americans in the continental United States, the above references are acceptable, according to the Native American Journalists Association. Tribal affiliations of individuals in this piece sometimes appear in parentheses next to their names. In Canada, Indigenous peoples are called First Nations. The term “Native” is used as an adjective to describe art, music, and fashion.
On March 12, Carnegie Hall presented the American Composers Orchestra in a concert featuring the New York premiere of Jerod Impichchaachaaha| Tate’s “Clans” at Zankel Hall. The work pays tribute to the Chickasaw Nation of Oklahoma, of which Tate is a citizen. In photo with the American Composers Orchestra, from left onstage: Jerod Impichchaachaaha| Tate, his son Heloha, conductor Rei Hotoda, and performer Malcom Smith. In foreground, from left: performers Shawn Langford, Margaret Wheeler, Nola Robertson, and Steven Robertson.
Jennifer Taylor
Some could say that 2023 was a banner year for Native American composers, and 2024 appears to be right on course.
Last year, Raven Chacon (Diné), who in 2022 became the first Native composer to receive the Pulitzer Prize in Music, was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship, aka the “genius grant.”
Commissioned works by Jerod Impichchaachaaha| Tate (Chickasaw) were performed by the New York Philharmonic, American Composers Orchestra, and Turtle Island Quartet, among other ensembles, and Clans, from his piece Lowak Shoppala’, had its New York premiere at Carnegie Hall in March 2024. Brent Michael Davids (Stockbridge-Munsee), co-founder of the Native American Composers Apprentice Program at the Grand Canyon Music Festival, received major funding in 2023 for the development of a large-scale musical composition, Requiem for America , which he describes as an “exploration of genocide” in three parts with 18 movements, and most recently, his orchestral work Indigenous/Undigenous II: Lenape was premiered at Carnegie Hall this March. Those are just the highlights.
Interest in the works of Indigenous composers has been steadily growing, along with performances of their music. According to conductor Rei Hotoda, music director of the Fresno Philharmonic, concertgoers are ready to move beyond Beethoven and Brahms. She
Jerod Impichcha _ achaaha| Tate credits Native composers themselves for this recent surge of interest in their works. “ We’re just doing what just
what humans do: creating,” he says.
points to the New York premiere of Tate’s piece Clans, for which she conducted the American Composers Orchestra, as proof that audiences are becoming more adventurous. “There is definitely curiosity from concertgoers around Indigenous music,” she says. “They are more open. The fact that Jerod’s piece Pisachi was played by the New York Philharmonic the same weekend as Clans says that these works should be in the repertoire.”
She adds that the Carnegie Hall performance “was as powerful as any Brahms or Mahler symphony” and that it brought down the house. Clans features a children’s chorus, Chickasaw dancers and vocalists, including Tate’s 10-year-old son Heloha, storytellers, and narration provided by Tate.
If his calendar is any indication, the demand for works by Indigenous composers is likely to increase—Tate said that he’s booked with commissions for the next five years. His commissioned pieces for the Oklahoma City Philharmonic, the Dover String Quartet, and CityMusic Cleveland will be performed this year.
Tate credits Native composers themselves for this recent surge of interest
in their works, and the late Cherokee composer Louis W. Ballard for paving the way.
“It’s not because of any statements on paper,” he said, referring to announcements of diversity and equity initiatives. “It’s because of us. We’ve been on a natural growth curve for a while, that’s why we’re garnering national attention. It’s
In 2022, Raven Chacon became the first Native American to win a Pulitzer Prize in Music, for his Voiceless Mass
Neal Santos
Rita Taylor Larry Canner
Participating in the American Composers Orchestra’s EarShot CoLABoratory Residencies with the Tucson Symphony Orchestra in 2023 were, from left, composers Suzanne Kite, Laura Ortman, and Michael Begay.
with Lakota musicians and community leaders. Last year, the South Dakota Symphony Orchestra received a $2 million gift to support the project.
“Collaboration is important when exploring Native American artists, especially if their work is grounded in cultural processes,” says Melissa Ngan, president and CEO of the American Composers Orchestra.
The lack of Native composers applying to composition programs led to discussions of what can be done to attract them, says Loki Karuna, director of artistic equity at the American Composers Orchestra: “The first step in solving the issue was finding out what the barriers might be for Native composers.”
Collaboration and education are at the center of the South Dakota Symphony’s Lakota Music Project, which was developed with Lakota musicians and community leaders.
happening in all the fine arts throughout Indian Country—authors, painters, poets, and in film. We’re just doing what just what humans do: creating.”
But despite the growing interest Indigenous composers, a lack of diversity continues to be a problem for orchestras.
Invisible Barriers
In 2022, when the Tucson Symphony Orchestra put out a call for composers in the Southwest to participate in a mentorship program, they expected to draw Indigenous applicants, given the large number of tribal communities in the area. But none applied. The program, called EarShot, is overseen by the American Composers Orchestra (ACO), which partners with orchestras around the country to discover and develop emerging talent. Applicants are required to submit a completed score to be workshopped. The lack of Native applicants led to discussions on why none applied and what can be done to attract them, says Loki Karuna, director of artistic equity at the ACO. “The first step in solving the issue was finding out what the barriers might be for Native composers,” he says. “Maybe they don’t know about our programs, or they don’t have a completed score to submit.”
Another potential obstacle for Native composers is that many don’t write music using traditional notation, a requirement for composing orchestral works. The EarShot group would need a different approach in attracting applicants.
In 2023 the ACO and the Tucson Symphony Orchestra announced the EarShot CoLABoratory Residencies. The one-year program, founded about a decade ago, is designed to develop the work of composers from more experimental backgrounds, or who are from
At the South Dakota Symphony, Music Director Delta David Gier with flutist Bryan Akipa (Dakota Cedar). Founded in 2005, the Lakota Music Project was developed in partnership
South Dakota Symphony
“There is definitely curiosity from concertgoers around Indigenous music,” says Rei Hotoda, music director of the Fresno Philharmonic. “Audiences are more open.”
South Dakota Symphony Orchestra Music Director Maestro Delta David Gier applauds Emanuel Black Bear after a 2018 performance of the Lakota Music Project at the Sioux Falls Multi-Cultural Center.
Tracey Salazar
Karjaka Studios
Nik Linde
Brent Michael Davids says that there’s been “a huge shift ” in public awareness of Native issues since the protests at Standing Rock over the Dakota Access Pipeline in 2016.
musical traditions that are underrepresented in the orchestra world. With the help of Raven Chacon, they chose three Native composers and musicians ready to make the leap into composing for the orchestra world: violinist Laura Ortman (White Mountain Apache), Suzanne Kite (Oglala Lakota), and Michael Begay (Diné).
The residency gives the composers and the orchestra musicians who will perform their pieces time to discuss ideas and ask questions as the score is being written. It’s a level of collaboration that is usually missing from the creative process in orchestras, according
to Melissa Ngan, president and CEO of the American Composers Orchestra. “Typically, an orchestra sees a completed piece a few days beforehand, which doesn’t give performers time to understand and expand the vision of the composer,” she says. “Collaboration is important when exploring Native American artists, especially if their work is grounded in cultural processes. What’s special about CoLab is it breaks down the hierarchal structure of how orchestras are run. It’s a space where direct conversations can happen between conductor, composer, and musicians.”
Partnerships
Collaboration and education are at the center of the South Dakota Symphony’s Lakota Music Project, which was developed in partnership with Lakota musicians and community leaders. The project was founded in 2005 and is still going strong with new works for the 2024–2025 season.
In September 2023, orchestra members and Lakota musicians, singers, and dancers met to discuss future goals for the project and to have a jam session. Last year, the South Dakota Symphony Orchestra received a $2 million gift that will allow more funding for the project. Under orchestra Music Director Delta David Gier’s leadership, the Lakota Music Project has become a role model for orchestras interested in working with Native composers and musicians. “I’m seeing a lot of ticking of boxes going on, which is a little distressing to me,” he says, referring to orchestras that play the works of Native composers but fail to engage with their communities in a meaningful way. “We work hard to attach every single concert to the community, not just Native community, but other communities as well. We work hard for relevance.”
At the September gathering with Lakota community members, Oglala Lakota singer Emmanuel Black Bear, a member of the Creekside Singers,
Composer Brent Michael Davids, co-founder of the Native American Composers Apprentice Program at the Grand Canyon Music Festival, says that there’s been “a huge shift” in the public’s consciousness around Native issues since the protests over the Dakota Access Pipeline in 2016.
Thatcher Keats
Backstage at David Geffen Hall for the New York Philharmonic’s performance of his Pisachi, composer Jerod Impichchaachaaha| Tate and conductor Elim Chan, making her Philharmonic debut.
Chris Lee
In 2023, the Tucson Symphony Orchestra held composer workshops in partnership with the American Composers Orchestra’s EarShot CoLABoratory Residencies. Participants included (from left) composer Michael Begay, ACO Artistic Director Curtis Stewart, composer Laura Ortman, and mentor Raven Chacon.
Curtis Stewart
Tonya Wind Singer says that she’s pleased to see new audiences embrace her work. “Most orchestras seem to cater to audiences who go to the symphony to hear Beethoven and Mozart, but it seems like that’s changing,” she says.
explained to the orchestra the importance of asking permission to incorporate traditional songs in new compositions. Black Bear has been involved with the project since its inception. It’s a sensitive topic, but the bonds of friendship between the orchestra and the Lakota performers enable them to have tough discussions, according to Gier. “We learn many things form each other and we give each other a lot of grace in screwing up, because that’s what friends do,” he says.
In that spirit, Black Bear presented the orchestra with a gift: new songs and permission to use them in their compositions.
Growing Awareness
Composer Brent Michael Davids says that there’s been “a huge shift” in the public’s consciousness around Native issues since the protests at Standing Rock over the Dakota Access Pipeline in 2016.
He points to the number of arts organizations that have contacted the Lenape Center, a non-profit cultural center in New York City, about land acknowledgements as one indicator of awareness. “There’s been a huge uptick,” says Davids, who is a co-director of the Lenape Center. “The Metropolitan Museum of Art even put their land acknowledgement recognizing the Lenape at the entrance to their building.”
Still, composer Tonya Wind Singer (Tohono O’dham/Mexican) says she is surprised by the recent interest in her work. Her orchestral piece Creation, which she wrote in 2009, was performed last year by the World Youth Symphony Orchestra at the Interlochen Arts Camp in Michigan, and a newer work commissioned by the Cape Symphony Orchestra in Cape Cod—Wampanoag: Stories for All Time —was performed in 2021. Creation garnered high praise from conductor
Jung Ho-Pak who, in an interview with Interlochen Public Radio, described the Phoenix-based Wind Singer as “an incredibly virtuosic, masterful composer.”
Wind Singer says that she’s pleased to see new audiences embrace her work.
“There’s a lot of new composers out there and lots of new music out there,” she says. “Most orchestras seem to cater to audiences who go to the symphony to hear Beethoven and Mozart, but it seems like that’s changing.”
RITA PYRILLIS (Cheyenne River Lakota) is a freelance writer in Evanston, Illinois. Her work has appeared in the Chicago Tribune, Crain’s Chicago Business, the Los Angeles Times, and Newsweek, among other publications. “Native Sounds,” her 2021 Symphony article about Native American composers and musicians, won an ASCAP Award for music journalism.
On March 7, the New York Philharmonic gave the world premiere of the orchestral version of Jerod Impichchaachaaha| Tate’s Pisachi. Elim Chan, on podium, led the work on a program that also featured music by Martinů and Rimsky-Korsakov.
Chris Lee
Celebrating Volunteers
The League’s Volunteer Council turns 60 this year—and there’s a lot to celebrate. For over half a century, the Volunteer Council has provided invaluable service to orchestra volunteers nationwide by sharing best practices, learning opportunities, in-person and online meetings, and more. The Volunteer Council is changing with the times and still going strong.
By Vivien Schweitzer
Only in America will you find such a large group of women who enthusiastically pay their own dues to an organization each year for the privilege of working long hours at no pay for a symphony orchestra,” said William Steinberg, music director of multiple American orchestras, in the April-June 1964 Newsletter of the American Symphony Orchestra League
Steinberg was referring to the Women’s Council, founded to “strengthen and enrich symphony orchestras at the national level by using the experience and leadership of women dedicated
to the betterment of music in consonance with the principles of the American Symphony Orchestra League.” The Women’s Council was the brainchild of Helen Thompson, then executive vice president of the American Symphony Orchestra League (now the League of American Orchestras). Renamed the Volunteer Council in 1980 to attract a more diverse group of participants, including men, the group celebrates its 60th anniversary at the League’s National Conference this June.
While the days are long gone when members wore white gloves to chat all things orchestra over afternoon
The Volunteer Council at their 2023 Fall meeting in Houston, Texas. Top row: Laurie Skjerseth, Paula McReynolds, Charlotte Lewis. Second row: Marena Gault, Bruce Colquhoun, Janet Cabot. Third row: Kathy Leibrand, Darlene Clark, Maggie Stehman, Julie Brantley, Camille Williams, Irene Sohm. Bottom row: Venise Stuart, Florence Mc Lean, Becky Odland. Not pictured: Loretta Davenport, Mary Fusillo, Kent McNeil, Becky Odland, Marylou Turner.
About the Volunteer Council
tea, the Volunteer Council continues to share best practices and critical resources with volunteer leaders, reward exceptional volunteer programs and projects within associations, and strengthen communication among the League, volunteers, and staff at orchestras of all sizes and budgets nationwide.
Catherine French, President and CEO of the League from 1980 to 1996, says that when orchestras established marketing and fundraising departments, for example, volunteer associations no longer needed to use their Christmas card lists to send out brochures. As more sophisticated recordkeeping and direct mail methods were used, volunteers were instead utilized to add a personal touch. “A fundraising invitation with a handwritten message from someone you know makes a difference,” she says.
French says that the Council members, initially all female, “could move mountains. They did extraordinary things and were respected by the men on the boards,” who were “a little intimidated. It worked out well. Those of us with a feminist bent hated the women volunteers being so deferential to the board.”
Indeed, as a 1964 issue of the League’s Newsletter stated: “The experience, vision, talents, and knowledge which this group of women will begin to bear on the problems and further development of symphony orchestras is unmatched in any other field of civic endeavor undertaken at the national level. The charter membership names form a veritable Who’s Who of volunteer cultural achievement in the land.”
The League Volunteer Council is made up of recognized community leaders who have demonstrated outstanding support for their orchestras and who are committed to the goals of the League of American Orchestras. Council members represent volunteer associations affiliated with orchestras from coast to coast and across the entire spectrum of budget tiers. Their leadership provides representation, support, and professional development to volunteer delegates throughout the country via quarterly publications, the volunteer project database, strategic conversations for presidents and presidents-elect (Zoom meetings on topics pertinent to their new leadership roles and responsibilities), and programming at the League’s National Conference. In addition, the Council’s Gold Awards of Excellence honor bestin-class programs and initiatives that have made a significant impact on their orchestras. The Council is committed to the ongoing education of its members to meet the current and future needs of volunteer associations in support of their orchestras.
Learn more at https:// americanorchestras.org/learn/ volunteering/league-volunteercouncil/
Laurie Skjerseth, current President of the League’s Volunteer Council and President of the Quad City Symphony Orchestra in Iowa.
Janet Cabot, President of the Volunteer Council in the 2022–23 season, advisor to the Madison Symphony Orchestra board of directors, and a member of the League’s board, says, “Smart orchestras value their volunteers. Communication, mutual respect, and appreciation are key.”
The audience at a session presented by the Volunteer Council at the League’s 2023 National Conference, titled “Leveraging Volunteer Power to Amplify Orchestras’ Fundraising and Community Outreach” and focusing on how orchestra leadership and volunteers can work together to achieve success.
Jason Cohn
At the League’s 2023 Conference, the “Leveraging Volunteer Power to Amplify Orchestras’ Fundraising and Community Outreach” session included speakers, from left: Robert Reed, Executive Director, Madison Symphony Orchestra; Janet Cabot, Volunteer Council President 2022-2023, Board Member, League of American Orchestras, and Board Member, Madison Symphony Orchestra; Marena Gault, Volunteer Council Member, Dallas Symphony Orchestra; Kim Noltemy, President and CEO, Dallas Symphony Orchestra; Larry Lang, Executive Director, Amarillo Symphony; Ginger Denney, President, Amarillo Symphony Guild; and Nancy Wrenn, Advisor and Parliamentarian, Women’s Symphony League of Tyler.
In the 1970s, First Lady Betty Ford and many governors’ wives accepted honorary memberships, and in 1981, the Council was invited to the White House for a concert and reception hosted by President Reagan and Mrs. Reagan.
Laurie Skjerseth, current President of the League’s Volunteer Council and Past President and Member, Volunteers for Symphony of the Quad City Symphony Orchestra in Iowa, recalls a
League Conference in San Francisco in 1987 that was “packed with volunteers.” As more women entered the workforce, she says, the Council and volunteer associations have continued to adapt and find new ways to recruit members. While the expectations and activities of volunteers—and their demographic composition—have changed as society itself changed, volunteering remains an important way to foster meaningful
Jason Cohn
Archival photo of the president and executive board of the Women’s Council of the American Symphony Orchestra League. Seated, left to right: Mrs. Fitzgerald Parker (President), Mrs. J.D. Drake, Mrs. Paul G. Benedum. Top row: Mrs. Miles E. Hench, Mrs. W. C. Guest, Mrs. Gerald S. Greene.
connections to orchestras and their communities.
There’s certainly a lot less envelope stuffing in 2024, especially as many regional orchestras have small paid staffs. Yet many orchestras of all sizes continue to rely on volunteers for a myriad of essential functions. Those might include fundraising, logistical support such as picking up artists from the airport, serving as front of house staff, organizing educational programs and audience development initiatives, and contributing to one-off projects or events.
Janet Cabot, President of the Council in the 2022–23 season, current advisor to the Madison Symphony Orchestra board of directors, and a member of the League of American Orchestras’ board, attended her first League Conference around 2015 and “liked the intellectual stimulation of other smart women. Smart orchestras value their volunteers,” she says. “Communication, mutual respect, and appreciation are key at all touchpoints.”
Robert A. Reed, Executive Director of the Madison Symphony Orchestra, describes the Volunteer Council as “a great resource,” and he emphasizes the need for recruiting volunteers from diverse backgrounds, especially given that an audience member’s first encounter with the organization might be via a volunteer. “You want your organization to reflect the community it serves,” he says. “Different people bring different energy and a diversity of ideas and experience to all their projects.” He notes that today’s orchestral volunteers are now often professionals with full-time jobs who tend to opt for project work instead of becoming career volunteers. Reed adds that volunteer organizations could work more closely with orchestral staff. “They are not in competition with each other and each needs to appreciate the other.”
The Council recently participated in a cross-constituency discussion to facilitate the collaboration between volunteers and development staff. During the Zoom meeting, volunteers and development staff from more than forty orchestras gathered to brainstorm ideas and discuss how they can strengthen relationships and share creative examples of collaboration. This connection and communication create opportunities to support
Volunteers support orchestras and the League in many ways. A caption from the Sept-Nov. 1967 League Newsletter states, “Mrs. Howard Althaus (left), past president of the Jackson Symphony League and board member of Women’s Council of the American Symphony Orchestra League, watches the transfer of keys for the new car from Mrs. Francis Eustis, President of the Council, to John S. Edwards, President of the League.”
orchestras. More of these cross-constituency conversations are planned for the coming year.
The Council’s recognition of outstanding projects highlights the work being done by volunteers nationwide and brings rewards beyond the intrinsic satisfaction that comes from working to support orchestras. The Council and Ralph Black, then executive director of the League, created the Gold Book in 1976 to highlight examples of innovative volunteer accomplishments. The Gold Book transitioned to an online platform in 2005. Each year at the League’s National Conference, the Council gives the Gold Award of Excellence to exceptional volunteer programs and initiatives that have made a significant impact in categories including fundraising, membership, education, and communication/technology. Recent award winners include the Pittsburgh Symphony Volunteer Association, which explored new ways to grow the audience with a garden tour through a bamboo forest,
Sharing successful projects by volunteer groups from across the country has been a central part of the Volunteer Council’s activities, as in this 1970s-era photo at a League Conference.
and the Houston Symphony League’s project “Growing Membership: Focus on What Works,” which described how they revitalized membership with unique recruitment strategies. The award-winning programs and projects vary widely, and reflect the local styles and interests of the communities and orchestras that each volunteer organization serves.
The Council and volunteer associations continue to embrace change as a pathway forward. The pandemic shutdowns forced volunteers to adapt fast and use technology to communicate. Cabot recalls that the first time the Council talked about not mailing in the RSVP for a gala, members resisted. “Ladies, the era of writing a check is gone. If you don’t adapt and change you become extinct,” she says. Reed agrees that volunteers should embrace change and keep in mind that “there’s always an expiration date for anything you do. Even the gala that used to be the talk of the town will become stale.”
How are things changing? The Volunteer Council’s Gold Awards of Excellence, originally published as a hard copy book, is now available online as a searchable database. The cross-constituency discussion about facilitating the collaboration between volunteers and development staff is new this year, with more to come, and technology continues to be utilized to help with networking, recruitment, and engagement of volunteers.
Simon Woods, President and CEO of the League, emphasizes the importance of representing different communities. “It’s important to recognize that volunteerism has to change and evolve without losing what is precious and wonderful about it,” he says. “Patrons aren’t generally aware of how much behind-the-scenes work volunteers do for orchestras. One of the amazing things about volunteerism is that it’s a selfless pursuit,” he adds, and that’s true even more so for older volunteers less likely to promote themselves by posting about their experiences on social media. “I don’t see young people today having the same concept of volunteerism as that generation. Inevitably, there’s a question of what path it takes over the long term.”
Woods, who is British and has been living in America for 27 years, says there isn’t the same spirit of volunteerism in the U.K. “I’m always in awe of the spirit of volunteerism that is so deeply rooted in American cultural organizations, especially in orchestras. What people have done selflessly for orchestras is a remarkable thing, and I never take it for granted.”
VIVIEN SCHWEITZER is a writer and pianist who contributes to publications including The Economist, The New York Times, and the American Scholar. Her book, “A Mad Love: An Introduction to Opera,” was named one of the New Yorker’s “Best Books We Read in 2021.”
The RealMaver l ck
Conductor Michael Tilson Thomas and composer John Adams are longtime friends and professional colleagues, with an influential record of pathbreaking creative teamwork. As Tilson Thomas begins to scale back his time on orchestra podiums this season, Adams shares his perspective on their collaborations, aesthetics, and how Tilson Thomas changed the orchestral art form.
By John Adams
Michael Tilson Thomas is co-founder and artistic director laureate of the New World Symphony, America’s Orchestral Academy, in Miami Beach, Florida; music director laureate of the San Francisco Symphony; and conductor laureate of the London Symphony Orchestra. His guest conducting includes appearances with the major orchestras of Europe and the U.S. In addition to his work as a conductor and educator, Tilson Thomas is a composer.
Music Director Michael Tilson Thomas leads the San Francisco Symphony in Mahler’s Symphony No. 5 on September 28, 2012.
Kristen Loken
Ifirst heard the name Michael Tilson Thomas when I was a grad student at Harvard in the early seventies. “MTT,” as he was soon to be known throughout the music world, was across the Charles River doing vibrant and provocative performances as assistant conductor of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. In his mid-twenties, youthful, charismatic, articulate, he provided a vivid contrast to the old-world sobriety of that orchestra’s previous music
directors. Needless to say, his programs were the only ones that might attract us fire-breathing wannabe avant-garde composers who, with the supreme intolerance only youth can summon, would casually dismiss Mahler and Brahms in favor of Stockhausen and Xenakis. Little did I imagine that Michael’s and my life would become entwined in strikingly creative ways over the following five decades.
He had won the coveted Koussevitzky Prize at Tanglewood and from
Michael has never lost his curiosity and almost childlike enthusiasm for new music.
there went to Boston. It was not the best of times for the BSO. Its aging music director, William Steinberg, often was out sick, and Michael’s presence provided a much-needed jolt of electricity. Not surprisingly, he wasted no time in rousing—and razzing—the staid Symphony Hall subscribers. One of his party pieces was Carl Ruggles’s Sun-Treader, a mighty, in-your-face-dissonant piece of Americana that even today retains its power to shock and awe. I was amused by the thought that a young conductor born in Los Angeles into a family of famous Russian-Jewish theater personalities would make his first impact with the music of a couple of gnarly WASP New Englanders like Ruggles and Charles Ives, whose Three Places in New England he soon recorded along with Sun-Treader for DGG.
I missed Michael’s most talkedabout BSO scandale, his performance in Boston and later in New York of Steve Reich’s Four Organs. That piece, probably the most procedurally stubborn of Steve’s early works, was in those days a tough listen for the uninitiated, and when Michael brought it to New York, it drove some listeners up the wall, not just for its slowly evolving form, but also for its use of amplification. Hard to believe that at the same time Jimi Hendrix and Eric Clapton were soaring at maximum decibels, classical music audiences remained almost universally hostile to the incorporation of technology in performance. It is a testament to Michael’s foresightedness that even as early as 1971 he would identify the then barely known Steve Reich as one of America’s great composers.
To this day Michael has never lost his curiosity and almost childlike enthusiasm for new music, and the list of composers that he has championed, to name just a few, includes Meredith Monk, Lou Harrison, Henry Cowell, David
Michael Tilson Thomas (left) and John Williams, in a photo taken by Betty Freeman in 1999-2000 during the San Francisco Symphony’s first American Mavericks festival, which focused on music by twentieth-century American composers working outside the mainstream.
John Adams takes a bow at San Francisco Symphony’s September 19, 2019 world premiere performance of his “I Still Dance” with the musicians and conductor Michael Tilson Thomas. Also on the program were Schumann’s Symphony No. 3 and Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 4 with Daniil Trifonov.
Grittani
MY FATHER KNEW CHARLES IVES
His history with the San Francisco Symphony spans an astonishing fifty years.
Orchestra for Cage’s Renga with Apartment House 1776 in a festival devoted to American music? And with what other conductor would the Grateful Dead agree to do it?
Over the years, John Adams dedicated several of his compositions to his friend and colleague Michael Tilson Thomas, among them “My Father Knew Charles Ives” from 2003. All scores are courtesy of Boosey & Hawkes. Copyright by Hendon Music, Inc. a Boosey & Hawkes company.
Adams’s “Absolute Jest,” from 2012.
John Adams says that he wrote “I Still Dance,” from 2019, “to celebrate Michael Tilson Thomas’s and his
Joshua Robison’s lifelong partnership.”
Del Tredici, Charles Wuorinen, Steven Mackey, Morton Feldman, Mason Bates, and Samuel Carl Adams—a remarkably “big tent” variety of voices. How many music directors world-famous for their
performances of Mahler and Beethoven would be found presenting a video analysis of a John Cage piece online, and then invite the Grateful Dead to join with the San Francisco Symphony Youth
We first met when he conducted Shaker Loops with the American Composers Orchestra in 1983. I’d originally written it for seven solo strings but made this version for full string orchestra just for that concert. A lot of new pieces have difficult childhoods. It takes time not only for performers but also for the composers to understand what the essential nature of a piece is. The performance was tentative. Michael was clearly groping to find that “essence,” and I honestly wasn’t entirely sure myself what I’d wanted. We met for breakfast the following morning and what ensued was a conversation that made me realize how in taking up a new work, whether a classic or something never before performed, Michael is always on a search for the piece’s DNA, that critical element that generates the work’s uniqueness. That may seem like a no-brainer, but how few conductors actually ask those questions of a piece and not simply try to imitate whatever favorite recording they have of it? In later years we’d have conversations about Mahler or Stravinsky or Brahms, and I’d listen as he’d marvel at some phrase or harmonic modulation, always looking for the special skeleton key that would unlock the secret of a piece, what I came to call “the great reveal.”
The Shaker Loops performance was the first of many of my pieces that he conducted. One day in 1985 when I was just beginning work on Nixon in China , he called and asked for “a short fanfare” for the opening of a new festival in Massachusetts. I groaned at the thought of having to break off important work to extrude yet another of those obligatory ditties that we composers are so often asked for. But it was Michael, and how
could I decline? The result was Short Ride in a Fast Machine, and I never regretted that I’d complied to write that particular ditty. Later he premiered My Father Knew Charles Ives, Absolute Jest, and I Still Dance, the piece I wrote to celebrate his and his husband Joshua Robison’s lifelong partnership. He took to heart my Harmonielehre, winning a Grammy in 2013 for Best Orchestral Performance with the San Francisco Symphony.
His history with the San Francisco Symphony spans an astonishing fifty years. I first saw him conduct them in the mid-seventies, and, as expected, there was Ives on the program. There is no comparison between the orchestra of those days and the world-class ensemble it is today. And, unlike many music directors who, once their weeks are concluded, are out the door on their way to the airport, Michael long ago made San Francisco his home and became a familiar and beloved figure whose face seemed to be everywhere, a source of immense local pride.
It’s not surprising that with his kind of curiosity, coupled with his capacity for identifying so strongly the emotional content of the music, he would become one of our great Mahler interpreters. Over the years I have been lucky enough to hear his performances with the San Francisco Symphony and witness the gradual evolution of both his and the orchestra’s way with those enormous, complex, and at times formally frustrating symphonies. By the end of his long tenure as music director the communication between him and the players was at a level of confidence and subtlety that can only be attained when musicians have known and trusted each other for a very long time. One thinks of Szell and the Cleveland Orchestra or von Karajan and Berlin. And he is humble in the presence of a great work. He recently confessed to me, almost in a whisper, “Now and then I will have an inspiration and decide to override Mahler’s indications. I always ended up regretting it.”
His career has been so full of wildly different experiences that it’s impossible to even begin acknowledging them all: his life as a composer of thoughtful, sometimes witty, sometimes quietly reflective pieces; his revelatory Keeping Score videos that explore his favorite
The San Francisco Symphony announced Michael Tilson Thomas’s inaugural season as music director with billboards dotting the city.
In 1987, Michael Tilson Thomas and others founded New World Symphony as a post-graduate training center for orchestral musicians in Miami Beach, Florida. In 2011, New World Symphony opened the New World Center as its permanent home. Designed by architect Frank Gehry, the building features an innovative concert hall, rehearsal rooms, gathering spaces, offices, advanced tech, and more.
New World Symphony
New World Center, home of the New World Symphony, was designed to play a central role in Miami Beach’s cultural scene, in part due to its SoundScape Park, open to the public and designed by the West 8 firm. The orchestra’s Wallcast concerts bring the inside out.
Alex Markow/New World Symphony
Michael has mentored generation after generation of our finest American orchestra players.
repertoire; his long and fruitful partnerships with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the London Symphony Orchestra; the staggering number of recordings. The genes passed down from his Thomashefsky theatrical family tree most certainly contributed to his stage savvy. Glam? You want glam? He could do it, as when he celebrated his 70th birthday with a performance of Liszt’s Hexameron for six grand pianos and orchestra followed by an apparition of Beach Blanket Babylon (a San Francisco tradition) doing the mambo down the aisles of Davies Hall. His West Side Story was consummate pizzazz. Only in the opera pit has his presence been unfortunately absent. His has always been too restless and quicksilver a mind to endure the kind of long-haul grind that opera conducting requires.
Of the many qualities he shares with Leonard Bernstein, a one-time mentor,
the most important is his devotion to young musicians. While Bernstein had an inestimable impact on American culture through his televised Young People’s Concerts, Michael, perhaps in a less sensational but every bit as important a way, has mentored generation after generation of our finest American orchestra players. One of his life’s greatest inspirations was the creation of the New World Symphony. And where would that be located? In Miami Beach of course! It would be typically Michael to envision an orchestra of brilliant twenty-somethings playing Stravinsky and Mozart and Berlioz in a Frank Gehry-designed concert hall while outside a thousand sunscreen-slathered tourists stroll the streets and head for the beach in flip flops and tank tops. But what else would you expect from the original American Maverick?
JOHN ADAMS is a composer, conductor, and creative thinker. His works, both operatic and symphonic, stand out among contemporary classical compositions for their depth of expression, brilliance of sound, and the profoundly humanist nature of their themes. Works spanning more than three decades have entered the repertoire and are among the most performed contemporary classical music today: Harmonielehre, Absolute Jest, Short Ride in a Fast Machine, and stage works including Nixon in China, El Niño, and Doctor Atomic. Author of the acclaimed autobiography Hallelujah Junction, Adams has also been published by both The New Yorker and the New York Times Book
Michael Tilson Thomas (in white shirt) backstage with John Adams, Samuel Adams, and Deborah O’Grady. Photo courtesy of San Francisco Symphony.
LEAGUE OF AMERICAN ORCHESTRAS
With the support of our valued donors, the League continues to have a positive impact on the future of orchestras in America by helping to develop the next generation of leaders, generating and disseminating critical knowledge and information, and advocating for the unique role of the orchestral experience in American life before an ever-widening group of stakeholders.
We gratefully acknowledge the generosity of the following donors who contributed gifts of $750 and above in the last year, as of March 15, 2024. For more information regarding a gift to the League, please visit us at americanorchestras.org/donate, call 212.262.5161, or write us at Annual Fund, League of American Orchestras, 520 8th Avenue, Suite 2005, New York, NY 10018.
$150,000 and above
Mellon Foundation
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$50,000-$149,999
Trish and Rick Bryan † ◊
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National Endowment for the Arts
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William G. Brown
Bruce and Martha Clinton, on behalf of the Clinton Family Fund † ◊
The Aaron Copland Fund for Music
Chris and Stephanie Doerr
Marisa and Allan Eisemann
Marian Godfrey Gardner † ◊
John and Marcia Goldman Foundation
Hood-Barrow Foundation
Mark Jung
Leslie Lassiter Charitable Fund
Nancy E. Lindahl
Robert A. and Diane J. McDonald Family Foundation
Robert Naparstek and Lisa Bisaccia
Mary Carr Patton
Nancy and Mark Peacock
Patricia A. Richards and William K. Nichols
Michael J. Schmitz
Penelope and John Van Horn † ◊
The Leslie Miller and Richard Worley Foundation
$5,000-$9,999
Anonymous (1)
Deborah Borda †
Leslie and Dale Chihuly
NancyBell Coe and Bill Burke
Nancy and Bill Gettys
Mary Lou Gorno
Jim Hasler
Sharon D. Hatchett
Paul Judy , Clear Pond Fund
Robert Kohl and Clark Pellett
John M. Loder
Kjristine Lund §
Alan McIntyre, McIntyre Family Foundation †
Catherine and Peter Moye
Lowell and Sonja Noteboom † ◊
The Brian Ratner Foundation
Charles and Maria Schweizer
Helen P. Shaffer
Texas Commission on the Arts
Simon Woods and Karin Brookes
$2,500-$4,999
Alberta Arthurs
Jennifer Barlament §
Peter Benoliel and Willo Carey
Vivian and Bill Benter
Marie-Hélène Bernard §
Steve and Cassandra Brosvik §
Tony and Linda Bucci
Janet Cabot ∞
Colbert Artists Management
Martha and Herman Copen Fund of the Community Foundation for Greater New Haven
Charles Dickerson
Daniel and David Els-Piercey
Steve Finerty
Catherine French † ◊
Hal and Pam Fuson
Gary Ginstling and Marta Lederer §
Christina and Mark Hanson §
Dr. and Mrs. Claire Fox Hillard
The Home Depot Foundation
James Johnson
William Jones
Joseph H. Kluger and Susan E. Lewis
Thomas and Sherry Koski
Catherine Koten †
Dennis LaBarre and Camille LaBarre
John and Gail Looney
Jonathan Martin
Michael and Catherine Mayton
David Alan Miller
William and Nancy Rackoff
Susan L. Robinson
Mr. And Mrs. James C. Seabury, III
Isaac Thompson and Tonya Vachirasomboon
Melia and Mike Tourangeau † §
Jeff Tsai § ¥
Alan Valentine
Kathleen van Bergen
Doris and Clark Warden †
W. Carl Wilson §
Jo Dee Wright
$1,000-$2,499
Burton Alter
Gene and Mary Arner
Beracha Family Charitable Gift Fund
O.C. and Pat Boldt Fund
Jennifer Boomgaarden Daoud
David Bornemann, Phoenix Symphony Board
Ann Borowiec
Elaine Amacker Bridges
Susan K. Bright
Doris and Michael Bronson
Monica Buffington and Jonathan Humphrey
Charles W. Cagle †
John and Janet Canning †
Judy Christl †
Darlene Clark ∞
Daniel and Linda Cooperman
Loretta Davenport ∞
Patrick Dirk
Dr. D.M. Edwards
Scott Faulkner and Andrea Lenz † §
Todd Gordon and Susan Feder
David Filner §
Drs. Aaron and Cristina Stanescu Flagg
Henry and Frances Fogel † ◊
John Forsyte §
James M. Franklin †
Stephen Friedlander
Marena Gault ∞
Alice V. Gelormino
Martha Gilmer
The Joseph B. Glossberg Foundation
Michael S. Gordon
Joseph T. Green
Suzanne Gronemeyer
Daniel and Barbara Hart † §
Dale Hedding
Catherine Heitz New
Michael J. Horvitz
David Hyslop †
Stanley Inhorn
Russell Jones
Emma Kail §
Guiliano Kornberg §
Kathleen Leibrand ∞
Bob and Charlotte Lewis ∞
David Loebel
John Lofton
Sandi M.A. Macdonald and Henry J. Grzes
Regina and John Mangum
Yvonne Marcuse
Louise Mason † ◊
Mattlin Foundation
Florence McLean ∞
Paula McReynolds ∞
Mitch Menchaca
Thomas Dreeze and Evans Mirageas
Kim Noltemy
Victoria and Howard Palefsky
Victoria Chu Pao
Henry Peyrebrune
Denise Rehg
Erik Rönmark
Jesse Rosen † ◊
Dianne and J. David Rosenberg
Robert B. Rosoff † ◊
Don Roth and Jolán Friephoff †
Pratichi Shah and Gaurang Hirpara
Robert Shapiro
Laurie and Nathan Skjerseth ∞
Irene Sohm ∞
Matthew Spivey §
Connie Steensma † ◊
Margaret Stehman ∞
Linda Stevens
Laura Street
Venise Stuart ∞
The Tang Fund
Marylou Turner ∞
Genevieve Twomey §
Edith and Thomas Van Huss
Jeff vom Saal †
Gus Vratsinas
Robert J. Wagner
Pam and Terry Weaver †
Camille and Alan Williams ∞
Donna Williams
Paul Winberg and Bruce Czuchna §
Edward Yim and Erick Neher § ¥
$750-$999
Jeff and Keiko Alexander
Matthew Aubin
Bruce Colquhoun ∞
Corey Field
Jack Firestone
Betsy Hatton
Dr. Sally Johnson and Mr. William Johnson
Steven Libman
Richard Mize
David C. Snead
† Directors Council (former League Board)
◊ Emeritus Board
President’s Council
§ League Alumni Network
∞ Volunteer Council 2023–2024
¥ Includes Corporate Matching Gift
Deceased
PRESIDENT’S COUNCIL
The League of American Orchestras President’s Council is a group of premier advocates from a wide range of backgrounds and sectors. Members advise the President and CEO on strategic direction, provide thought leadership on trending issues, and act as ambassadors for the League in their communities.
We would like to thank the following members for their support and leadership:
Trish Bryan | Director Emeritus, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra
Laura Chang | Vice Chair, New York Philharmonic
Sakurako Fisher | Board Governor and former President, San Francisco Symphony
Carol Colburn Grigor | Board Member, Los Angeles Philharmonic
Barbara Hostetter | Chair, Boston Symphony Orchestra
Lori Julian | Trustee, Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Alfred P. Moore | Former Trustee, Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra
Norm Slonaker | Trustee and Former Chair, New Jersey Symphony
Richard Smucker | Chair, The Cleveland Orchestra
Helen Zell | Vice Chair, Chicago Symphony Orchestra
For more information about the President’s Council, please contact Elizabeth Arnett at earnett@americanorchestras.org.
LEAGUE LEGACY SOCIETY
The League of American Orchestras recognizes those who have graciously remembered the League in their estate plans as members of the League Legacy Society.
Anonymous (2)
Janet F. and Dr. Richard E. Barb Family Foundation
Wayne S. Brown and Brenda E. Kee †
John and Janet Canning †
Richard † ◊ and Kay Fredericks Cisek
Martha and Herman Copen Fund of the Community Foundation for Greater New Haven
Myra Janco Daniels
Samuel C. Dixon §
Henry ◊ and Frances Fogel
Douglas M. Hagerman
Susan Harris, Ph.D.
Louise W. Kahn Endowment Fund of The Dallas Foundation
The Curtis and Pamela Livingston 2000 Charitable Remainder Unitrust †
Steve and Lou Mason † ◊
Charles and Barbara Olton †
Walter P. Pettipas Revocable Trust
Rodger E. Pitcairn
Patricia A. Richards and William K. Nichols
Robert and Barbara Rosoff ◊
Robert J. Wagner
Tina Ward § †
Mr. and Mrs. Albert K. † ◊ and Sally Webster
Robert Wood Revocable Trust
Coda Musician as Climate Activist
Jeffrey Weisner is a bassist in the National Symphony Orchestra with a passionate commitment to climate action. Here, Weisner proposes strategies that orchestras can use to lessen their climate impact and aim for sustainability.
Besides my very full life as an orchestral musician in the National Symphony Orchestra, I am also a climate activist. I am in the leadership of 350MoCo, a community-based grassroots organization in my home of Montgomery County, Maryland. As part of the global 350. org network, we work on a wide variety of actions and campaigns to fight the climate emergency locally and nationally. I have organized rallies, met with local politicians, written legislation, and even played music to help change the systems and practices that keep pumping greenhouse gases into our atmosphere.
I am happy and proud that my orchestra is devoting time and resources to its climate impacts. The NSO’s sponsorship of a reforestation project is admirable but also falls short of truly addressing its sustainability issues. All the same, when people see organizations and people they care about talking about the climate emergency, they feel more motivated to act on it themselves. But the specific actions we take also have meaning, and any orchestra that wants
to take climate impacts seriously needs to broaden its thinking and imagination about what, how, and when it takes actions—and then speak about those actions.
What are some alternate ways that orchestras can consider their climate impact?
1. Be cautious about actual or implied offsets. Very few offset programs are sufficiently rigorous to accurately guarantee a certain amount of emissions reduction. Also, showing an offset implies that we can pay a sort of climate penalty and then continue with business as usual, when the truth is we must reconsider all our choices as part of a systemic interaction with climate. Climate leadership means addressing our emissions now.
2. Use systems thinking. An orchestra is a business that is constantly producing various types of emissions. While a tour is a high-profile event that produces a lot of emissions, tours can pale next to the ongoing emissions of regular operations, which happen every year, with or without any touring. Think of touring or any activity as part of the complete activity of your orchestra. Then you can make choices based on long-term impact.
3. Energy, transportation, and buildings. These three sources are the vast majority of carbon emissions in the U.S. Orchestras can consider many ways to reduce emissions in any of these areas. In addition, states, localities, and the federal government offer a wide range of funding, logistical, and other support in these areas. Don’t assume a change
is impossible—learn your options. Many of these changes can reduce costs as well. If you retrofit your building to need less heating/AC, or switch to a heat pump system from a fossil fuel-based system, you may end up paying less for a lower-emissions system.
4. Evaluate touring from a mission-driven perspective. For most orchestras, touring is a major fundraising commitment, and the logistics of touring place an enormous burden on staff. Orchestras should consider from a mission-driven perspective whether touring justifies the costs. Could that fundraising time instead be dedicated to local community concerts? Could a tour be in your home state instead of abroad? Could staff time be better spent on the development of local audiences? As non-profit arts institutions, orchestras have a unique position to model what is possible on climate in the arts world and beyond. By considering climate impacts in a holistic way, orchestras can make wiser choices and model true leadership.
JEFFREY WEISNER is a double bassist in the National Symphony Orchestra and a former faculty member at Peabody Conservatory. He currently chairs the NSO Artistic Advisory Committee and the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee. He has been a member of the Steering Committee of 350MoCo since its founding in 2014. He resides in Montgomery County, MD with his husband and their two daughters.
Orchestras have a unique position to model what is possible on climate in the arts world and beyond.
Jeffrey Weisner, at right in green shirt, marches with 350MoCo at the People’s Climate March in Washington, D.C., Earth Day 2017.
