Category: Help Yourself

Conductors Bertie Baigent, Tong Chen, Gonzalo Farias, Norman Huynh, Yuwon Kim, and François López-Ferrer will lead the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra at the League of American Orchestras’ Bruno Walter National Conductor Preview, March 16-17, 2022 in New Orleans. One of the orchestra field’s most prestigious events for conductors to showcase their talent, the Preview offers the conductors two days of rehearsals, networking and meetings with industry professionals, and a free public concert with the Louisiana Philharmonic on March 17 in music by Beethoven, Brahms, Haydn, Montgomery, Ravel, and Stravinsky. Orchestra search committees, artist managers, and artistic administrators receive two days of intimate, front-row access to watch and evaluate participants in rehearsal and performance, and to meet them individually. Postponed in 2020 due to the pandemic, the showcase features all six conductors from the 2020 Preview. The concert will be streamed live and made available on-demand for 45 days. Registration for the 2022 Bruno Walter National Conductor Preview is now open; the event is free for League orchestra and institutional members. Learn more and sign up at https://americanorchestras.org/event/2022-bruno-walter-national-conductor-preview/.

Simon Woods, president and CEO of League of American Orchestras, shares key strategies for leading orchestras in an ever-evolving world in a video conversation on “Arts Engines,” produced and hosted by Aaron Dworkin. “Arts Engines” highlights the perspectives of the thought leaders and game-changers who are creating significant impact in the arts. Woods and Dworkin discuss how orchestras responded to the pandemic crisis with new-found resilience and resourcefulness; the value of establishing a forward-thinking, collaborative culture within orchestral organizations; the importance of increased equity, diversity, and inclusion, and the strengths that orchestras will bring to new trends, challenges, and priorities as they move forward. Watch “Arts Engines” here.

Several of the country’s most accomplished young classical musicians will be showcased on a streamed performance from the National YoungArts Foundation at 8 pm ET on Thursday, February 3. The event will feature 21 YoungArts award winners in classical music. The virtual event is the culmination of the foundation’s January 9-15 National YoungArts Week, during which young artists in multiple disciplines participated in an intensive program of online classes and workshops with leaders in their fields. The young musicians also recorded and developed work during the week and are featured on Feb. 3 as part of YoungArts’ series of free virtual performances, writers’ readings, an exhibition, and a film screening. Other streamed events focus on young vocalists, jazz musicians, and visual artists. Based in Miami, Florida, National YoungArts Foundation identifies accomplished young artists in the visual, literary, and performing arts, and provides them with creative and professional development opportunities. Watch the stream for free and learn more at https://youngarts.org/.

The Wallace Foundation has issued “A Place to be Heard, a Space to Feel Held: Black Perspectives on Creativity, Trustworthiness, Welcome and Well-Being,” a study that seeks to better understand cultural and creative preferences among Black communities. The report reveals some of the experiences and perspectives that Black and African American adults in this country have in relation to cultural engagement, digital connection with arts and culture, and social change. Among the findings, respondents report that they most value arts experiences and organizations that celebrate Black creativity;​ support self-care, a practice that respondents say is especially important in Black communities; make a sustained commitment to earn Black communities’ trust; and foster a sense of belonging. Researchers conducted open-ended, 90-minute interviews with 50 Black Americans from across the U.S. The report’s authors state that while the views of 50 people cannot represent the full spectrum of attitudes among Black Americans, the interviews suggest themes that could help arts organizations build more meaningful relationships with Black communities. The qualitative study was prepared by Slover Linett Audience Research in association with LaPlaca Cohen and Yancey Consulting and is part of the “Culture and Community in a Time of Transformation” series. Learn more here.

On January 27, the National Endowment for the Arts announced the 567 recipients of $57.75 million in direct grants awarded through the final installment of American Rescue Plan (ARP) funding designated by Congress to help the arts and cultural sector recover from the pandemic. ARP awards support employment, operations and facilities costs, health and safety supplies, and marketing and promotional expenses. Direct grants included a total of $2,550,000 to 24 orchestras. The League of American Orchestras has posted a list of the 24 orchestras that received American Rescue Plan direct grants, plus eight related orchestral awards. The full list of recommended awards, sorted by city/state, is available here.

The NEA received more than 7,500 applications requesting nearly $700 million in support. Among the recommended awards, 27 percent are first-time NEA grantees and 78 percent are organizations with budgets of less than $2 million. These direct grants to organizations follow two rounds of ARP funds administered by the NEA to states, regions, and localities to support local grantmaking. The NEA is accepting applications for its annual major grant category, Grants for Arts Projects (Part 1); the deadline is February 10, 2022. Applications for the NEA’s Challenge America grants will be due April 21, 2022. Orchestra are encouraged to review the League’s grant tips before applying.

There’s still time to register for the League of American Orchestras’ 2022 Midwinter Managers Meeting, “Leading in a Time of Change,” which takes place online, January 31 and February 1. The virtual meeting offers two days of professional development and the opportunity to connect with fellow orchestra executive directors while taking a deep dive into what it means to lead in a time of rapid change. The Midwinter Managers Meeting is open to executive directors of League-member orchestras and youth orchestra administrators. Participants will:

• Examine key rules of the road for leaders in the opening session with Nancy F. Koehn, the James E. Robison chair of Business Administration at Harvard Business School, whose research focuses on crisis leadership and how leaders and their teams rise to the challenges of high-stakes situations;
• Learn how to understand and motivate major donors in an “Innovation Session” with Arts Consulting Group;
• Take part in field-wide roundtable discussions on the roles that leaders play at their orchestras, facilitated by executives at a range of League-member orchestras;
• Connect with peers to explore topics specifically related to their workplace focus and responsibilities.

Click here to register now for the League’s 2022 Midwinter Managers Meeting. Questions? Contact League Member Services at member@americanorchestras.org.

The Chattanooga Symphony & Opera in Tennessee has appointed JOHN KILKENNY as executive director, effective March 1, 2021. He succeeds Samantha Teter, who joined the CSO as director of marketing in 2012 and served as executive director from 2016 until the end of 2021. Kilkenny is associate professor and director of percussion at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, where he has served since 2008 and his responsibilities include academic and administrative areas. Since 2018, Kilkenny has also been artistic and executive director of the Sewanee Summer Music Festival at the University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee, where he has raised the festival’s visibility, expanded program offerings, increased enrollment, and generated significant contributed income. He received a bachelor’s degree in percussion at the Juilliard School and a master’s degree at Temple University. Additional studies include management and leadership training at the DeVos Institute at the Kennedy Center, the Fundraising Standard, and the Harvard Business School Online.

Indiana’s Fort Wayne Philharmonic has promoted BRITTANY A. HALL from assistant managing director to managing director. She began as managing director on January 3, succeeding James W. Palermo. Previously, Hall was executive director of the Binghamton Philharmonic in New York, where she served for five years, and in leadership at the Erie Philharmonic in Pennsylvania. Hall holds a Master of Science degree in Arts Administration from Drexel University, and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Music Industry from the State University of New York. Hall has served on nonprofit boards including the Greater Binghamton Chamber of Commerce, Binghamton Noon Rotary, and the Clyde-Savannah Public Library. Regionally, she is an incoming board member of ACRES Land Trust. In 2017, she was selected to participate in the League of American Orchestras’ Emerging Leaders Program.

Classical music fans and the general population have been transformed by the pandemic. What do orchestra audiences need in 2022? The League of American Orchestras will present “Understanding Audience Motivations in a Time of Ongoing Uncertainty,” a webinar exploring new research of audience expectations during the pandemic, on Tuesday, January 25, 3:00pm Eastern/Noon Pacific. The webinar will examine key findings from Culture + Community in a Time of Transformation–A Special Edition of Culture Track, a report by Slover Linett Audience Research and LaPlaca Cohen that analyzes a sample of more than 75,000 Americans and compares insights from early in the pandemic with audience perspectives more than a year later. Speakers María Huiza, strategist at LaPlaca Cohen, and Madeline Smith, project director and research operations lead at Slover Linett Audience Research, will discuss the high level of participation in online cultural activities among classical music attendees, opportunities for audience diversification, and what classical music attendees want.

“Understanding Audience Motivations in a Time of Ongoing Uncertainty” takes place on Tuesday, January 25, 3:00pm Eastern/Noon Pacific. A recording will be available after the live event. This webinar is made possible by a grant from The Wallace Foundation. Learn more and register here. Questions? Contact League Member Services at member@americanorchestras.org.