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League of American Orchestras Partners with University of Southern California Arts Leadership Program

  • 02/09/15

NEW YORK, NY — The League of American Orchestras and the University of Southern California (USC) have established a new strategic partnership to develop future orchestra leaders, the two organizations announced recently.

The League, in association with USC's Arts Leadership program (ARTL), will present Essentials of Orchestra Management in Los Angeles for the first time, from July 7-16, 2015. Essentials has previously been presented by the League in New York City. The immersive 10-day seminar will be hosted by the USC Thornton School of Music. San Francisco Symphony executive director Brent Assink and The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts president Deborah Rutter will continue to serve as seminar co-directors in consultation with Kenneth Foster, director of USC's Arts Leadership program.

This new partnership allows the League to draw upon some of the most innovative leaders currently working on the West Coast. Faculty will include, among others, Deborah Borda, president and chief executive officer, Los Angeles Philharmonic and Los Angeles Philharmonic staff; Martha S. Gilmer, chief executive officer, San Diego Symphony; Pacific Symphony staff members; and USC faculty. A full Essentials faculty list and program details will be released at a later date.

“For nearly fifteen years, the Essentials program has successfully identified and cultivated future orchestra leaders, and our alums have gone on to key positions in the field and beyond,” comments Jesse Rosen, the League's president and CEO. “This new partnership with USC's Arts Leadership program enables the League to take the program to a new level, as we benefit from USC's institutional excellence, expand our leadership development reach, and harness the West Coast's exciting creativity and innovation.”

“We are delighted to be working with the League to create a program that reflects the realities of working in today's challenging environment,” says Ken Foster, director of USC's Arts Leadership program. “Founded on the principle that arts leaders of today need new ways of approaching their work to be successful, USC's ARTL program is in the vanguard of creative thinking about arts leadership in the contemporary world. This partnership with the League allows us to extend that point of view to the world of orchestra management.”

The partnership advances synergies between the two organizations, which share the objective of developing arts leaders for the 21st century. USC's Arts Leadership program is multidisciplinary, and the collaboration provides the League access to an important talent pool. The partnership also enables the League to promote the orchestra field as a viable option for emerging leaders in other arts sectors. For USC, the partnership provides its students with the benefits of the League's long-established network of orchestra leaders and expertise, expanding the students' career options and equipping them with the skills necessary to become innovative and successful leaders.

Essentials of Orchestra Management features an immersive, hands-on curriculum, challenging participants to tackle real-world problems. New this year, the participants will be housed together on the USC campus and a local hotel, providing an even more intensive experience.

Participants with fewer than three years of performing-arts organization experience are eligible to apply, along with graduate students, musicians, and people outside the industry who are considering a career in orchestra management.

The deadline to apply to Essentials is April 14, 2015. For more information, visit the League's website.

Essentials of Orchestra Management is made possible by generous grants from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts. Essentials is sponsored by the Association of California Symphony Orchestras.

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