League Of American Orchestras And RIOS Launch New Partnership

The League of American Orchestras is launching a partnership with the recently formed Ibero-American Network of Symphony Orchestras. The collaboration aims to unite orchestras throughout the Americas for dialogue and the sharing of ideas, make the League's resources available to Latin American orchestras, and provide impetus to the development of Spanish language content on the League's website.

RIOS held their inaugural meeting at the Centro de Extensión Artística y Cultural (Center for Artistic and Cultural Extension) of the University of Chile in November, uniting over 60 orchestras from North, Central, and South America, and the Iberian Peninsula. League President and CEO, Simon Woods, gave a keynote speech entitled “Leading Change Boldly: Transformation in a Complex World,” which closed the conference. The conference featured presentations by field leaders from Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Columbia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Germany, Mexico, Paraguay, Portugal, Venezuela, and the United States.

“Latin American countries are filled with music, and its orchestras are a vital part of that landscape,” says Woods. “They are vibrant and creative organizations who are deeply focused on their artistic growth and social impact—and being present at their first gathering was an honor and an inspiration. We are thrilled to partner with RIOS to for this historic opportunity to share experience and ensure that all our orchestras thrive and grow in the future.”

RIOS Director, Francisco Varela, commented: “We're extremely pleased to launch this partnership with the League of American Orchestras, an organization that has pioneered the type of advocacy and support for the orchestra world that we aspire to achieve with RIOS in our region. We look forward to learn from the vast accumulated experience of the League, and to share and collaborate together for the promotion and sustainability of our institutions and symphonic music.”

As a part of this new relationship, RIOS orchestras will receive League memberships through September 2028, with access to all member benefits and resources. Over the next few years, RIOS will translate some of the League's member resources into Spanish, beginning with the popular Music Director Search Handbook. The Spanish-language version of this Handbook is available for download now. The League's magazine, Symphony, also published its first bilingual article in Spanish and English in June. Further collaborations will include conference sessions, articles, and other forms of exchange.