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
The Volunteer Council of the League of American Orchestras looks at how volunteer organizations are tweaking traditions and holding firm as they continue to support their communities during this time of uncertainty, with special emphasis on ways these organizations have changed and adapted with respect to holding meetings, fundraising, and engaging and communicating with their members.
The League of American Orchestras is pleased to honor these member orchestras celebrating noteworthy anniversaries this season.
Through direct grants, support to state arts agencies, and national leadership initiatives, the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is a critical source of federal support for orchestras nationwide. The NEA’s FY19 Grants to Organizations included 100 grants to orchestras and communities they serve.
The U.S. State Department encourages links among cultural organizations and communities around the world by providing grant opportunities for cultural exchange and promoting cultural diplomacy.
Orchestras and individual musicians travel with their instruments to bring the
experience of live music to audiences in every corner of the globe.
Orchestras work at the national, state, and local levels to build support for
music education in schools. The League is a leader in national efforts to
preserve arts education funding and to improve arts education policy through implementation of the Every Student Succeeds Act.
The League is a global leader in helping artists – and the organizations that
present them – as they navigate the U.S. visa process and tax withholding
requirements. In a coordinated effort with other national performing arts
organizations, orchestras are working with the White House, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), State Department, Treasury, and Congress to urge ongoing improvements to the visa process and tax procedures.
Orchestras, in close partnership with the broader nonprofit community, seek to protect and improve incentives for charitable giving. As Congress considers follow-up to tax reform, and as policy leaders intensify their focus on potential new regulations for nonprofit governance, administration, and demonstrating community benefit, the League makes the case for orchestras’ public impact.
As Congress works on its fourth package of federal relief in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the League partners with the national arts and nonprofit sectors seek support for orchestras, musicians, and the communities they serve.