Category: Help Yourself

The League’s National Conference offers something for everyone who cares about orchestras—whether you’re a board member, an executive director, a musician, an administrator, or a volunteer, there are seminars, classes, and programs just for you. How to select the events that best suit your needs and interests? Visit the My Conference pages of the Conference website to see the program of discussions tailored especially for you and your peer group. There you’ll find a broad range of Constituency Meetings that are designed specifically to gather delegates with similar job descriptions and interests for focused learning and networking. You’ll share insights and strategies with friends and colleagues from all over the country. There are some twenty constituency groups, ranging from Artistic Administrators to Youth Orchestras/Colleges, for organizations of every size, so there’s sure to be the perfect fit just for you.

Visit My Conference to learn more.

Haven’t signed up for Conference yet? Register today, and save $50 per person before the late-registration fee kicks in on Friday.

Posted May 13, 2010

Take advantage of four free consultations while you are at the League’s National Conference in Atlanta. Specialists from the National Endowment for the Arts will offer individual consultations about music and arts-education funding. Interested in today’s music? A private meeting with a representative from EarShot, which is devoted to the support of new American orchestral music, will enhance your orchestra’s work with contemporary composers. How best to cope with constantly changing electronic media? The League’s electronic media consultants, Michael Bronson and Joe Kluger, will be available at the Conference to advise you about strategic or practical electronic media issues. Visa and tax rules are some of the most complicated concerns confronting orchestras, but a free, individual consultation with an expert immigration attorney will help clear up questions about visas and taxation for foreign guest artists.

Appointments will likely fill up before Conference, so sign up now. To reserve an Electronic Media consultation, contact jkluger@artemedia.com or mconbrio@mindspring.com. To reserve a free, private consultation concerning the NEA, new music, or tax and visa issues, contact nlee@americanorchestras.org.

Haven’t signed up for Conference yet? Register today, and save $50 per person before the late-registration fee kicks in on Friday.

Photo by Asher Kelman

Posted May 12, 2010

With the accelerating pace of technological change, the League’s Electronic Media Services collects monthly summaries of relevant news and information regarding changes, trends and developments that may affect the electronic media activities your orchestra uses to achieve its institutional mission. You’ll find these monthly summaries, and other important legal and technological information as it relates to electronic media, in the League’s Knowledge Center. (Read May’s update) 

Posted May 11, 2010

The League’s National Conference is a unique opportunity to find the answers to your questions, not only from experienced speakers but from your friends and colleagues around the country who share your issues and have created their own solutions. This year, Conference topics tackle a broad range of issues, from expanding your audience to understanding and experimenting with social media, and from testing an exciting assortment of new concert formats to really knowing your customers and not just their pocketbooks. Last year was tough, and for many this year is harder. Don’t miss this opportunity to hear from the experts and to tap into your network of colleagues and learn from each other.
The League’s National Conference is June 15-19, in Atlanta.
The $50 late fee kicks in this Friday, so be sure to register now.

Photo by Asher Kelman

Posted May 11, 2010

Get ready for the Orchestra R/Evolution at the League’s National Conference in Atlanta next month by watching Opening Session keynote speaker Ben Cameron describe his passion for the live performing arts, their power and challenges in the 21st century. Cameron’s address, Arts at the Crossroads, is not to be missed. See and hear Cameron in action here. The debate begins May 17 at orchestrarevolution.org, the place where you can voice your vision for the field and nominate questions for the provocative Opening Session. Register for Conference now—on May 15 all rates will include a $50 late registration fee. So don’t pay more—register now! Take advantage of discount rates for first-timers, volunteers, youth orchestras, and students. And as always, musicians come to the League’s National Conference for free.

Orchestra R/Evolution is created by the League of American Orchestras and made possible by a generous grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. 

Posted May 10, 2010

Orchestras Feeding America recently wrapped up the 2010 donation period in the month of March and reports show impressive results so far! 135 orchestras from 45 states participated and communities across the country have benefitted from the efforts of our nations orchestras. Thank you to all who have contributed time, food, and energy to this great cause. We are anxious to report a national total so if you have not submitted your results, please fill out our brief survey found here.

For more information about this year’s drive and who participated, please visit americanorchestras.org.

Posted May 4, 2010

Be one of the next 8 people to register for the League’s National Conference plus a two-day Orchestra Leadership Academy Seminar and receive a complimentary roundtrip airfare to Atlanta courtesy of Delta Airlines.

What’s the catch? You have to be flying from an airport serviced by Delta in the contiguous 48 states. Sorry Alaska and Hawaii.

To take advantage of this great offer and fly to Conference for free, just click here and register before Tuesday, May 4 at noon – be sure to choose one of the following two-day OLA Seminars to be eligible.

• Effective Executive Director and Board Chair Relationships
• Imagining a New Way Forward
• Digital Models: A Strategic Approach to Community Building
• Nonprofit Finance Fund: Financial Leadership Clinic

For more information on OLA, registration, or what other exciting things are happening in Atlanta June 15-19, visit americanorchestras.org.

This offer is made possible through the generosity of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra.

Posted May 3, 2010

We are excited to announce the Who Works in Orchestras? series of audio interviews with professionals in the field. First up, Graham Parker and Liz Mahler from Orpheus Chamber Orchestra. The interviews are intended for those interested in working for orchestras – but given the rich content they will be a valuable listen for everyone. Please visit americanorchestras.org for more details.

Posted April 21, 2010

The League of American Orchestras, in partnership with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and El Sistema USA, would like to invite you to a national symposium on the El Sistema Movement in the U.S. to take place in Los Angeles from May 6-8, 2010, an event open to all League members.

Composing Change: YOLA and the El Sistema Movement
To register online for May 6th, visit americanorchestras.org.
To register online at for May 7th and 8th, visit laphil.com.

Further discussions surrounding El Sistema will continue in June at the League’s national Conference in Atlanta. For more information or to register for Conference, visit americanorchestras.org.

Posted April 14, 2010

With the accelerating pace of technological change, the League’s Electronic Media Services collects monthly summaries of relevant news and information regarding changes, trends and developments that may affect the electronic media activities your orchestra uses to achieve its institutional mission. You’ll find these monthly summaries, and other important legal and technological information as it relates to electronic media, in the League’s Knowledge Center. (Read April’s update)  

Posted April 8, 2010