Category: Help Yourself

In February, Capacity Interactive (CI) released a new report, Arts Industry Data Analysis: Pandemic Response, which explored the real impact of the pandemic on arts marketers. On Wednesday, March 10, Erik Gensler, president and founder of Capacity Interactive, and CI team members will present Takeaways from the Arts Industry Data Analysis: Pandemic Response, an online summary and interactive group discussion of the data analysis. They will review evolutions within the broader digital and media landscape and offer frameworks for building stronger and healthier marketing teams. Viewers will be able to ask Capacity Interactive experts questions about digital marketing and research.

Takeaways from the Arts Industry Data Analysis: Pandemic Response takes place on Wednesday, March 10, 3:00pm Eastern/12:00pm Pacific. The League of American Orchestras is offering a 50% discount off webinar registrations to staff of NYC arts organizations, thanks to the generosity of the Howard Gilman Foundation and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council. Click here to learn more and to register. Contact League Member Services at member@americanorchestras.org with questions.

The League of American Orchestras has published Making the Case for Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion in Orchestras, a guide with concrete answers and practical resources that orchestras can use to advance anti-racism and equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) at all levels of their organizations. Developed in collaboration with a team of orchestra musicians, music directors, board members, and staff, the guide is intended to help the orchestra field take action to become more inclusive and welcoming of all people and all differences. The guide provides practical advice, content, and support, and is designed to help those in orchestras to make the case for this vital work and navigate some of the key questions as they take action for change. Orchestras have a long history of discrimination, and Making the Case is offered amid America’s current reckoning with 400 years of oppression against Black people, underscored by the recent police killings and the disproportionate impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Black and Brown Americans. It follows the League’s Statement on Racial Discrimination issued in August 2020. Read Making the Case for Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion in Orchestras here.

In these changing times, it’s more essential than ever that the League of American Orchestras continues to meet the needs of the orchestra field. Everyone in the orchestra field—orchestras, businesses, individuals, and other institutions—is encouraged to take a short survey, rate League programs and member benefits, and share their thoughts about possible future directions for League work. The survey closes on Thursday, February 25, so now is the time to participate in the survey and help the League help today’s orchestra field. The survey takes no longer than ten to fifteen minutes to complete. Everyone who completes the survey by February 25 will be eligible to enter a drawing to win one of three $100 Amazon Gift Cards. Take the survey here.

Mental health and wellness are extremely important—yet frequently overlooked and often stigmatized. On Wednesday, February 24, the League of American Orchestras will present Mental Health and Wellness: A Conversation, a virtual session moderated by Stephanie Wagner, a trainer and program specialist at Healthy Minds Innovations (affiliated with the University of Wisconsin-Madison). The 90-minute discussion will offer first steps in normalizing conversations about mental health for those in the orchestra field, and a musician, a composer, an orchestra administrator, and a licensed therapist will discuss destigmatizing mental health issues, therapy, and medication. The panelists are: Julia Adolphe, composer; Lauren Aycock Anderson, therapist/owner, Counseling for Creatives, LLC; Aiden Feltkamp, emerging composers and diversity director, American Composers Orchestra; and Sidney Hopson, musician and arts strategist. The session will feature tips backed by science to support and nurture mental and emotional well-being during this challenging time, as well as time for Q&A with the panel.

Mental Health and Wellness: A Conversation takes place on Wednesday, February 24 at 3:00pm Eastern/12:00pm Pacific; a recording will be available after the live event for those who register. Learn more and register here. Contact League Member Services at member@americanorchestras.org with questions.

As the arts sector continues to navigate the pandemic and the road ahead, how can organizations respond to what diverse communities need most? On Wednesday, February 17 at 1:00 p.m. ET, the Wallace Foundation will present Centering the Picture: The Role of Race & Ethnicity in Cultural Engagement in the U.S., a special edition of Culture Track by Slover Linett Audience Research. The event, based on research supported by the Wallace Foundation, is the latest session in Wallace’s Reimagining the Future of the Arts virtual conversation series. Focusing on the perspectives of communities of color, the new Centering the Picture study examines what audiences want from the arts sector right now; how cultural organizations can adapt to be more responsive; and what we can learn from digital engagement of these audiences during the prolonged closures due to COVID-19. Slover Linett Project Director Madeline Smith will share key findings from the study, followed by a discussion among Anna Glass, executive director, Dance Theatre of Harlem; Josephine Ramirez, executive vice president, the Music Center (Los Angeles); and Nancy Yao Maasbach, president, Museum of Chinese in America. Registration is free. Learn more here.

The orchestra field spent the summer of 2020 listening, learning, negotiating, testing, analyzing, soul searching, and innovating. The goal: laying a foundation for a viable future and creating a structure for a 2020-21 season. On Wednesday, February 17 at 3:00pm Eastern/12:00pm Pacific, the League of American Orchestras will present 2020-21: The Resiliency Season, a webinar that examines how adaptation and planning for the season led to two different experiences at two different orchestras. Leaders from the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and the Virginia Symphony Orchestra will share insights from their work and what they have learned​ so far from their revamped 2020-21 seasons. The webinar will include discussions of digital vs. in-person performances, changes to patron engagement, and how approaches to leadership have evolved. TRG Arts will moderate this webinar and will share insights from its COVID-19 Benchmark Dashboard, which can help inform strategic and campaign planning.

2020-21: The Resiliency Season takes place on Wednesday, February 17 at 3:00pm Eastern/12:00pm Pacific; a recording will be available after the live event. Learn more and register here. Contact League Member Services at member@americanorchestras.org with questions.

The League of American Orchestras has launched a survey to ensure that the League continues to meet the changing needs of the orchestra field and to understand how members value and use League tools and resources. Anyone in the orchestra field—orchestras, businesses, individuals, and other institutions—is invited to take the short survey, evaluate League programs and member benefits, and share their thoughts about possible future directions for League work. The survey should take no longer than ten to fifteen minutes; it’s as short as possible while still giving the League the insights needed to best serve the field in the future. (Taking the survey on a desktop computer is recommended.) Complete the survey by Thursday, February 25 and you’ll be eligible to enter a drawing to win one of three $100 Amazon Gift Cards. Take the survey here.

The League of American Orchestras is launching two partnerships to increase data and understanding of the impact of COVID-19 on ticket sales and gift revenue as well as audience preferences and readiness to return once performance resume. TRG Arts’ free COVID-19 Sector Benchmark and WolfBrown’s Audience Outlook Monitor ​surveys will provide participating orchestras the opportunity to benchmark their own activities and audiences against their peers, and will contribute to important learning for the whole field. Learn more about the League’s new COVID-19 data partnerships here. Two free webinars will provide advance information about the surveys: the webinar about WolfBrown’s Audience Outlook Monitor will take place on Thursday, February 4 at 1:00 PM Eastern/10:00 AM Pacific; and TRG Arts’ COVID-19 Sector Benchmark survey will be the subject of a webinar on February 16 at 3:00 PM Eastern/12:00 PM Pacific. Register for the Audience Outlook Monitor webinar here. Register for the COVID-19 Sector Benchmark webinar here. Questions? Contact knowledge@americanorchestras.org.

From January 28 to 30, the Sphinx Organization will present its fifth annual SphinxConnect convening—this time as a virtual gathering that makes the event available everywhere. SphinxConnect focuses on diversity, equity, and inclusion in the performing arts, and this year’s event will feature over 70 speakers exploring social-change initiatives and new programming paradigms in classical music. In addition, the finals of the junior and senior divisions of the annual Sphinx Competition for Black and Latinx classical string players will be streamed on January 30 at 7:00pm ET. Conference panels include: “Artful Resilience: How Musicians Innovate in Crisis,” “Socially Vocal: a Discussion on Race and Identity in the Arts,” “This is Everyone’s Fight: How Philanthropic Institutions Stepped Forth to Support Artists and BIPOC Institutions,” “The ABCs of DEI (Diversity, Equity & Inclusion) and EDIB (Equity, Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging): Best Practices in Implicit Bias and Anti-Racist Training.” SphinxConnect’s digital sessions are interactive and participants will have opportunities to network with panelists during the three-day conference. Learn more and register at https://www.sphinxmusic.org/sphinxconnect.