Sounds from a Distance
Thrilling sound is one of the defining characteristics of orchestra concerts. But the pandemic has reordered priorities: outdoor performances and safety protocols like masks and distancing require new approaches to acoustics.
What’s Next for Orchestras?
2020 was a year like no other: the pandemic, America’s long-overdue reckoning with race, financial downturns, starkly divided politics. Facing COVID-19 shutdowns and stringent health regulations, orchestras found innovative ways to keep the music playing—even while reexamining their roles in a changing society.
Studying Safer Concerts
Orchestras and scientists are joining forces to study the spread of the coronavirus so they can bring back live music— safely. These collaborations are part of the innovative approaches orchestras are taking on multiple fronts during the pandemic.
Creating Authentic, Community-Driven Partnerships
As the country copes with the pandemic and faces a longoverdue reckoning with racism, orchestras are seeking fresh ways to forge genuine connections with communities. How can orchestras collaborate with public education and community partners and offer social-emotional support and engagement? The League’s “New Ecosystem for Community-Centered Commitments” webinar gathered experts to propose new directions.
Boards, Governance, and Racial Equity
The COVID-19 crisis and the national focus on racial justice have profoundly affected conversations around governance, with new calls for equity, diversity, and inclusion on boards and at orchestras.
Forward Thinking: A World More Embracing
As orchestras grapple with the financial and organizational challenges of recalibrating their business models for a post-pandemic world, compelling opportunities to rethink relationships with local communities and society itself are emerging. – Simon Woods, League President and CEO
“Enough” is Not Enough
After a ten-year wait, the u.s. Department of education released data this past spring that paints an incomplete but dismaying picture of the status of arts education in our nation’s schools.
Coda: Rethinking Music History
Musicologist Naomi André is rethinking music history through the lenses of gender and race.
Annual Fund: Fall 2020
With the support of our valued donors, the League continues to have a positive impact on the future of orchestras in America by helping to develop the next generation of leaders, generating and disseminating critical knowledge and information, and advocating for the unique role of the orchestral experience in American life before an ever-widening group of stakeholders.
2020 Guide to Symphony Pops Advertisers
The tops in pops attractions for orchestras, in a special advertising section.