Gary Ginstling is an American music executive and a former President and CEO of the

New York Philharmonic The New York Philharmonic, officially the Philharmonic-Symphony Society of New York, Inc., globally known as New York Philharmonic Orchestra (NYPO) or New York Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra, is a symphony orchestra based in New York City. It is ...

Education

Ginstling holds degrees from

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

, the

Juilliard School The Juilliard School ( ) is a private performing arts conservatory in New York City. Established in 1905, the school trains about 850 undergraduate and graduate students in dance, drama, and music. It is widely regarded as one of the most el ...

and the Anderson School of Management at the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

. Commenting on his time at Juilliard to the ''New York Times'', Ginstling said: “I was singularly focused on getting a job in a great orchestra. I don’t think there was an awareness that a career in the arts was something worth considering.”

Career

Prior to joining the New York Philharmonic, Ginstling was executive director of the

National Symphony Orchestra The National Symphony Orchestra (NSO) is an American symphony orchestra based in Washington, D.C. Founded in 1930, its principal performing venue is the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. It also performs for the annual National Mem ...

(NSO) in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

beginning in August 2017. While at the NSO, Ginstling developed new ways of reaching audiences, driving up ticket sales, subscriptions and donations. Before that, Ginstling was the chief executive officer of the

Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra The Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra (ISO) is an American orchestra based in Indianapolis, Indiana. The largest performing arts organization in Indiana, the orchestra is based at the Hilbert Circle Theatre in downtown Indianapolis on Monument Circl ...

for five years where he settled a musician's strike upon arrival and increased revenue 44% and general manager of the

Cleveland Orchestra The Cleveland Orchestra, based in Cleveland, is one of the five American orchestras informally referred to as the " Big Five". Founded in 1918 by the pianist and impresario Adella Prentiss Hughes, the orchestra plays most of its concerts at Sev ...

from 2008 to 2013. Ginstling worked as director of communications and external affairs for the

San Francisco Symphony The San Francisco Symphony (SFS), founded in 1911, is an American orchestra based in San Francisco, California. Since 1980 the orchestra has been resident at the Louise M. Davies Symphony Hall in the city's Hayes Valley neighborhood. The San Fr ...

and in 2004 he was executive director of the Berkeley Symphony where he grew attendance by more than 25%. Prior to moving into orchestra management Ginstling had a three-year role in the technology industry working as a

product marketing Product marketing is sub-field of marketing that is responsible for crafting messaging, go-to-market flow, and promotion of a product. Product marketing managers can also be involved in defining and sizing target markets along with other business ...

manager for the

Java platform Java is a set of computer software and specifications developed by James Gosling at Sun Microsystems, which was later acquired by the Oracle Corporation, that provides a system for developing application software and deploying it in a cro ...

Sun Microsystems Sun Microsystems, Inc. (Sun for short) was an American technology company that sold computers, computer components, software, and information technology services and created the Java programming language, the Solaris operating system, ZFS, the ...

. In 1998, Ginstling was on the faculty of the

University of California at Irvine The University of California, Irvine (UCI or UC Irvine) is a public land-grant research university in Irvine, California. One of the ten campuses of the University of California system, UCI offers 87 undergraduate degrees and 129 graduate and pr ...

Department of Music Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...

as a lecturer in music. Ginstling spent 12 years performing as a

clarinet The clarinet is a musical instrument in the woodwind family. The instrument has a nearly cylindrical bore and a flared bell, and uses a single reed to produce sound. Clarinets comprise a family of instruments of differing sizes and pitches ...

player with the New West Symphony before moving into academia. On July 11, 2024, Ginstling resigned as CEO of the New York Philharmonic amidst controversy from its performers for labor disputes.

Other activities

Ginstling serves on boards of the

League of American Orchestras The League of American Orchestras, formerly the American Symphony Orchestra League, is a North American service organization with 700 member orchestras of all budget sizes and types, plus individual and institutional members. Based in New York Ci ...

and the Electronic Media Association.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ginstling, Gary Living people Yale University alumni American arts administrators New York Philharmonic Year of birth missing (living people) Sun Microsystems people American music industry executives Juilliard School alumni People from Livingston, New Jersey American clarinetists American marketing people National Symphony Orchestra American nonprofit chief executives