Conference 2024: Opening Session and Gold Baton Award

Speaker(s): Gabriela Lena Frank, Composer-in-Residence, The Philadelphia Orchestra; Lee Koonce, Former President and Artistic Director, Gateways Music Festival; John Mangum, Executive Director/CEO, Margaret Alkek Williams Chair, Houston Symphony; Toni-Marie Montgomery, piano professor and former dean, Northwestern Bienen School of Music; Juraj Valčuha, Music Director, Roy and Lillie Cullen Chair, Houston Symphony; Michael Webster, Artistic Director, Houston Youth Symphony; and Simon Woods, President and CEO, League of American Orchestras

The Opening Session showcased the Houston Youth Symphony conducted by Artistic Director Michael Webster performing Grammy winner Jessie Montgomery’s Soul Force and Silvestre Revueltas’s Sensemayá.

We also heard a keynote address from Gabriela Lena Frank, winner of a Latin Grammy and nominee for Grammys as both composer and pianist. She is currently serving as Composer-in-Residence with The Philadelphia Orchestra and is a former Composer-in-Residence with the Houston Symphony.

Another highlight of the opening was the presentation of the Gold Baton Award, the League’s highest honor, to Lee Koonce. Lee has served as President and Artistic Director of Gateways Music Festival, Executive Director of Ballet Hispanico in New York City, Executive Director of Third Street Music School Settlement, and Director of Community Relations for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.

Akustiks, HGA Architects, and Schuler Shook generously co-sponsored the Opening Session at the League’s Conference. Photo Credit: Melissa Taylor