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 City, with an office in Washington, DC, the League leads, serves, and advocates for orchestras and the orchestral art form.

History

The League was founded in 1942 and chartered by Congress in 1962. Leta Snow, manager of the

Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra The Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra (KSO) was founded in 1921 and is now the third largest professional orchestra in Michigan. During the 2005–2006 concert season, the orchestra played for more than 100,000 people in more than 30 concerts. The orch ...

, convened a meeting of representatives from 40 U.S. orchestras in 1942 to discuss ways to improve orchestral music through group action. The League, then known as the American Symphony Orchestra League, was formed shortly thereafter. One of its first actions was to lobby successfully, under the leadership of its executive secretary Helen M. Thompson, for the repeal of a federal tax on symphony concert tickets. (or, vi
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In 1994, the American Symphony Orchestra League reported that 174 women had upper-level conducting positions with more than 850 orchestras across the US. In April 2018, along with the

Sphinx Organization The Sphinx Organization is a non-profit organization dedicated to the development of young Black and Latino classical musicians. Based in Detroit, Michigan, it was founded by the American violinist Aaron Dworkin. The Sphinx was chosen to represe ...

and the

New World Symphony New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...

, the League of American Orchestras announced the establishment of the National Alliance for Audition Support (NAAS) that prepares more black and Latino musicians to enter and succeed in auditions for orchestras. The NAAS was launched with a $2 million fund.

Activities

The League provides resources for ongoing professional development. The League provides resources in its career center, including sections on seeking career guidance, finding jobs and internships, league programs and resources, and who works in orchestras and what they do. Communication to members and representing the drive of the League is presented through several sources, including newsletters and an award-winning magazine, ''Symphony''. Besides the League's National Conference, the organization provides other meetings at the national, regional, and local level. The League is devoted to increasing the awareness of and access to orchestral music. By representing orchestras before Congress, the organization acts on legislative policies.

Youth and education

The League recognizes the importance of music education in growing, promoting, and sustaining American orchestras. It provides information regarding El Sistema and Ann and Gordon Getty Foundation grants and the development of American youth orchestras. It has created and maintained an entire division of its operation to youth orchestras, including directors from across the country. This division, the Youth Orchestra Division or YOD, has its own separate leadership, including individuals working in music education and youth orchestra development. In addition, League CEO, Jesse Rosen, and vice president for advocacy, Heather Noonan, composed a resource in advocacy for music education entitled ''"Enough" Is Not Enough''. Within this writing, Rosen and Noonan present the current picture of music education in the United States, where although the arts are considered a core subject by federal law, they do not receive this treatment in American schools. They also claim those students who could be influenced the most by a health arts education, especially music, do not have reliable access to such an education in the arts.

Innovation and community engagement

Announced in 2016, the League's Futures Fund is underwritten by the Ann and Gordon Getty Foundation to advance a wide variety of innovative orchestral engagement initiatives. In 2019 there are nineteen grants from this $4.5 million program, whose variety is illustrated by a joint

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and

University of Toledo The University of Toledo (UToledo or UT) is a public research university in Toledo, Ohio. It is the northernmost campus of the University System of Ohio. The university also operates a Health Science campus, which includes the University of T ...

effort to study the effects of classical music as a component of psychotherapy, an innovative variety of digital subscription initiatives aimed at audience growth for 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 ...

and planned presentation of three concerts by the

Virginia Symphony Orchestra The Virginia Symphony Orchestra (VSO) is an American orchestra administratively based in Norfolk. The VSO performs concerts in various venues in Virginia, including: * Chrysler Hall, Norfolk * The Sandler Center for the Performing Arts, Virginia B ...

designed to celebrate and support neurodiversity.

Gold Baton award

Created in 1948 and given annually since 1958, the Gold Baton is the League's highest honor. A broad range of recipients of have been honored for supporting and inspiring the growth of symphonic music on a broad level. The most-recent five awardees include a philanthropist, an arts administrator, instrumentalists and a composer.

Governance

Board officers

Officers for 2019–2020 are: * Douglas M. Hagerman, chair * Melanie Clarke, co-vice chair *

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, co-vice chair * Helen Shaffer, secretary * Burton Alter, treasurer

Executive

The president and CEO is Jesse Rosen, who will retire from this position in September 2020 after 12 years as CEO and 22 total years with the League. In April 2020 the League announced that Simon Woods, former president of the

Seattle Symphony The Seattle Symphony is an American orchestra based in Seattle, Washington. Since 1998, the orchestra is resident at Benaroya Hall. The orchestra also serves as the accompanying orchestra for the Seattle Opera. History Beginnings The orchestra ...

and chief executive of the

Los Angeles Philharmonic The Los Angeles Philharmonic, commonly referred to as the LA Phil, is an American orchestra based in Los Angeles, California. It has a regular season of concerts from October through June at the Walt Disney Concert Hall, and a summer season at th ...

, will take the reins in September.

References

External links

League of American Orchestras
{{DEFAULTSORT:League Of American Orchestras Music organizations based in the United States Patriotic and national organizations chartered by the United States Congress Organizations established in 1942 1942 establishments in the United States