Chad Smith will leave his post at the Los Angeles Philharmonic this fall to join the Boston Symphony Orchestra as president and CEO. Photo by Kayana Szymczak.
“Chad Smith, who as chief executive of the Los Angeles Philharmonic traces some of his most formative musical experiences to Boston’s Symphony Hall, was named Monday as the next president and CEO of the Boston Symphony Orchestra,” writes Malcolm Gray in Monday’s (5/15) Boston Globe (login may be required). Smith will begin at the BSO in early fall 2023, succeeding Gail Samuel, who stepped down last December after 18 months in the job. “Smith, 51, has filled a variety of positions in his more than two decades at the LA Phil, where he developed a reputation as a proponent of conductors, composers, and soloists who is also committed to innovative programming. As chief executive, a role he has filled for four years, Smith has overseen … a sprawling operation that produces hundreds of concerts annually across multiple venues…. In Boston, Smith will oversee one of the so-called Big Five orchestras, itself an expansive operation, rich in real estate holdings, with an endowment valued at $484 million and revenues that totaled $98 million in fiscal year 2022. In addition to its core offerings of the symphony orchestra, Tanglewood, and the Boston Pops, the BSO is seeking new programming initiatives to expand its community reach … The Boston job will be something of a homecoming for Smith … who studied vocal performance at the New England Conservatory of Music and European history at Tufts University. He spent two summers at Tanglewood.”
