“There was little surprise that [Simon] Woods—who is genial, 55 years old, and British—got the most enviable and the best-paid orchestra job in the business,” when he was named chief executive officer of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, writes Mark Swed in Thursday’s (9/20) Los Angeles Times. “His was the first name that came to the mind of almost everyone in the know. He is a consummate professional who studied conducting and composition at Cambridge University, worked as a record producer for EMI at Abbey Road studios for a decade and then moved on to orchestral management, most recently [as president and CEO] at the Seattle Symphony. In large part thanks to Woods’ progressive leadership, which embraced Seattle’s [emphasis on] innovation while also addressing its social impact on economic inequality and homelessness, Gramophone magazine just voted Seattle Symphony its orchestra of the year.” At the LA Phil, Woods says, “all the values … about community and collaboration and working across genres are exactly the things that I fully embrace…. That said, the goal of what follows will be how to take the organization to the next level of how we engage with the community around us.”
Posted September 24, 2018
In photo: Los Angeles Philharmonic CEO Simon Woods (at right) meets LA Phil musicians with Music Director Gustavo Dudamel, shortly after the announcement of Woods’ appointment earlier this year. Photo courtesy of Los Angeles Philharmonic
