Simon Woods News

Arts leader Lee Koonce, who transformed Gateways Music Festival from an all-volunteer local festival into an organization of national significance, will receive the Gold Baton, the League of American Orchestras has announced.

Sphinx Organization announces SphinxConnect: Amplify and 27th Annual Sphinx Competition happening from January 24-27, 2024 in Detroit.

The League of American Orchestras has formed a Student Leadership Council, the first in the organization’s 81 years, to provide a platform for the League to better understand and integrate the voices of young people into its work and support the growth of student engagement within the orchestra field.

An international cohort of thirty-six orchestra and arts professionals will participate in Essentials of Orchestra Management, the League of American Orchestras’ premier leadership development program. The ten-day program, running from July 26-August 4, 2023, is presented in collaboration with Juilliard Extension and will take place in New York at Juilliard’s Lincoln Center Campus.

 An international cohort of thirty-six orchestra and arts professionals will participate in Essentials of Orchestra Management, the League of American Orchestras’ premier leadership development program. The ten-day program, running from July 26-August 4, 2023, is presented in collaboration with Juilliard Extension and will take place in New York at Juilliard’s Lincoln Center Campus.

Six women and non-binary orchestra professionals from across the country will comprise the first cohort of the League of American Orchestras' Anne Parsons Leadership Program, the League has announced.

 “Inclusive Stages,” a new program aimed at increasing racial diversity among musicians in American orchestras, will launch in Spring 2023, the League of American Orchestras has announced. The program’s pilot year will be supported by San Francisco-based Sakana Foundation, with additional funders to be announced. 

The text is superb, the actors accomplished professionals at the top of their game, the direction tight and the package a reminder to us to live without regrets, to keep our loved ones close and that 'I'm sorry' should never be left unsaid.

The League of American Orchestras has launched the Anne Parsons Leadership Program, League President and CEO Simon Woods announced. Honoring Anne Parsons, the transformative orchestra field leader and mentor who passed away in 2022, the three-year pilot mentoring program aims to effect structural change by supporting women and non-binary orchestra professionals in their career progressions, and ultimately improving gender equity within the C-suite.

The latest standings as of Monday, December 19th, have been released for the 2022 BroadwayWorld Central New York Awards! Nominations were reader-submitted and now our readers get to vote for their favorites.

The latest standings as of Monday, December 12th, have been released for the 2022 BroadwayWorld Central New York Awards! Nominations were reader-submitted and now our readers get to vote for their favorites.

Andrew Clark has joined the League of American Orchestras’ Leadership Team as Vice President, Finance and Administration.

The latest standings as of Monday, December 5th, have been released for the 2022 BroadwayWorld Central New York Awards! Nominations were reader-submitted and now our readers get to vote for their favorites.

A select cohort of 35 orchestra and arts professionals have been chosen from the United States and Canada to participate in Essentials of Orchestra Management, the League of American Orchestras’ premier leadership development program.

A new report by the Institute for Composer Diversity, produced in partnership with the League of American Orchestras, confirms an increase in works by women and composers of color on stage.

Generating an infusion of new music by women on orchestra stages over the next several seasons, the League of American Orchestras will commission orchestral works from six women composers and form a consortium of thirty U.S. orchestras to perform the works across the country (five orchestras will be paired with each composer).

After online convenings in 2020 and 2021, the League of American Orchestras National Conference will take place in person again, hosted this year by the Los Angeles Philharmonic in partnership with the Association of California Symphony Orchestras (ACSO).

 After online convenings in 2020 and 2021, the League of American Orchestras National Conference will take place in person again, hosted this year by the Los Angeles Philharmonic in partnership with the Association of California Symphony Orchestras (ACSO).

Can a symphony orchestra have a role in solving problems like homelessness and global warming? If you don't think so now, you might change your mind after a conversation with Laura Reynolds, the San Diego Symphony's recently appointed Vice President of Impact and Innovation. In 2015, while she was the Seattle Symphony VP of Education and Community Engagement, both the city and the county decided the increasing number of homeless people had reached a state of emergency. CEO Simon Woods asked her, 'What's our role in this? What should we do?''

The League of American Orchestras has transformed its Leadership Team, led by President and CEO Simon Woods, in order to bring new voices to the organization and support a renewed focus on serving its more than 1,800 orchestra, institutional, and individual members.