The League of American Orchestras has named Caen Thomason-Redus to the newly created position of Vice President, Inclusion and Learning. He will lead the League’s commitment to equity, diversity, and inclusion across the orchestra field as well as its learning and convening programs. In addition, the League has reorganized its Leadership Team, led by President and CEO Simon Woods, to bring new voices to the organization and support a renewed focus on serving its more than 1,800 orchestra, institutional, and individual members.
Thomason-Redus joins the League from the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, where he served as Senior Director of Community and Learning from 2017 to the present. He joined the DSO as Director of Community and Learning in 2015. Prior to that, he was a development director at the Sphinx Organization, a flute professor at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and an Orchestra Fellow in the flute section of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. Thomason-Redus has advised organizations including El Sistema USA, the National Flute Association, Fifth House Ensemble, Early Music Now (WI), and Iris Orchestra (TN). Thomason-Redus was named one of Musical America’s Top 30 Arts Administrators in 2019 and is a recipient of the Sphinx Organization’s MPower Artist Grant. He studied music at Rice University, the University of Michigan, and the University of Redlands. His education includes studies at Leadership Detroit and the American Express Leadership Academy as well as training in equity, diversity, and inclusion.
In the reconfigured Leadership Team, Rachel Rossos Gallant has been promoted to Vice President, Marketing and Membership with a focus on member relations and communications, and Karen Yair moves to a new position as Vice President, Knowledge and Resources, where she will support orchestras through data, research, and resources. Led by Simon Woods, the team includes Marlah Bonner-McDuffie, Vice President, Development; Heather Noonan, Vice President for Advocacy; and Marc Martin, Senior Director, Finance and Administration.
Caption: Caen Thomason-Redus, appointed to the newly created position of Vice President, Inclusion and Learning at the League of American Orchestras. Photo by John F. Martin.
