The GRAMMY® Award winning Albany Symphony, one of the country’s leading regional orchestras, is seeking a dynamic and innovative Executive Director who will help lead the organization to its centennial in 2030 and beyond.

Albany Symphony

https://www.albanysymphony.com/

The Albany Symphony celebrates our living musical heritage.  Through brilliant live performances, innovative educational programming, and engaging cultural events, the Albany Symphony enriches a broad and diverse regional community.  By commissioning, recording, and disseminating the music of our time, the Albany Symphony is establishing an enduring artistic legacy that, in turn, is helping to shape the nation’s musical future.

Led by Music Director David Alan Miller, the Albany Symphony is one of the region’s most revered cultural institutions.  The Albany Symphony has won numerous national awards for its adventurous programming, recording projects, composer residencies, and innovative educational projects.  The last decade has been a time of dramatic growth for the Orchestra, garnering two GRAMMY® awards in 2014 and 2021 and achieving national recognition for its adventurous programming by participating in “SHIFT: A Festival of American Orchestras” at the Kennedy Center and “Spring for Music” at Carnegie Hall.

Founded in 1930, the Albany Symphony serves a diverse regional audience across New York State’s Capital Region, neighboring counties, and parts of Massachusetts and Vermont.  Annual programming includes a classics series of eight concerts, each featuring recent or world-premiere compositions alongside classic selections from the breadth of the orchestral repertoire.  Each season culminates with an American Music Festival that includes performances by Dogs of Desire, the Orchestra’s avant-garde ensemble.  In addition, the Albany Symphony presents pops and family concerts, in-school programs, community education events, and holiday concerts in collaboration with area youth groups. A composer-in-residence program works with students on songwriting, storytelling, improvisation, teamwork, and self-expression.

The Symphony has a record of celebrating unique aspects of its community through newly commissioned site-specific works as part of its New York heritage.  In recent years, the annual American Music Festival has built on that idea and now presents expansive multi-day community festivals that celebrate cultural and historical sites throughout NY State, including Water Music NY, a weeklong orchestral journey along the Erie Canal, Sing Out! NY celebrating NY’s social justice movements, TrailBlaze NY on the Empire State Trail, and this year’s Freedom Road NY Festival along Black historic sites throughout the state.

The Albany Symphony is governed by a 35-member Board of Directors and has a staff of nine.  The annual operating budget is $3 million.

The next Executive Director of the Albany Symphony will work with a board whose members share a vision of creating a new model for a sustainable, vibrant American orchestra that transforms the lives of all people in the region.  The Executive Director will take a leadership role in encouraging musicians, staff, and volunteers to work with the board in generative, forward-thinking discussions about new offerings and redefining what an American orchestra is and does for its community.  The Board of Directors, the Music Director, the orchestra musicians, and the staff are committed to working with the new Executive Director to further the mission of the Albany Symphony.

• The Executive Director (ED) provides comprehensive leadership in communicating and realizing the Albany Symphony’s mission, vision, and strategic direction to both internal and external stakeholders.  The ED ensures that the Orchestra meets its short- and long-term artistic and strategic goals, working in close collaboration with the Music Director, the orchestra, the staff, the Board of Directors, and Albany Symphony’s diverse community partners.
• The Executive Director reports to the Board of Directors through the Board Chair.  The ED is responsible and accountable for all aspects of the Orchestra’s operations, including: planning; budgeting and financial management; fundraising; marketing and audience development; artistic administration and concert production; orchestra relations and collective bargaining negotiations; electronic media; education and community engagement; media and public relations; and advocacy.
• The Executive Director recruits, motivates, empowers, and evaluates a high caliber administrative team.  The ED values the importance of diversity and inclusion and cultivates an environment where contributions from team members of all backgrounds are respected and appreciated.  The ED provides administrative support to the Board of Directors, ensuring that the Board and its committees have timely and accurate information to inform decision making.  The ED works as a partner with the Board Chair to develop the Board and ensure that the Board fulfills its governance responsibilities.
• The Executive Director leads the Albany Symphony’s development efforts and fundraising programs.  Working with the Board and the development staff, the ED sets goals, identifies opportunities to secure funding from individuals, foundations, corporations, and government agencies, and ensures that the Orchestra meets and exceeds fundraising goals.  The ED provides impetus and support to the development efforts of the Board.
• The Executive Director manages a $3 million annual operating budget.  The ED ensures that fiscally responsible practices are in place to support long-term, sustainable budget growth.  The ED works closely with the finance team to develop financial monitoring and budgeting tools to meet organizational needs.
• The Executive Director oversees the work of the sales and marketing team in achieving revenue goals and ensures that comprehensive strategies are in place to increase earned income through effective ticket sales campaigns, promotions, and activities that enhance and increase audience engagement.
• Working closely with the Music Director, the Executive Director ensures that the resources are in place to realize the Orchestra’s artistic vision and fulfill the Albany Symphony’s mission to celebrate our living musical heritage through programming, commissioning, recording, orchestra development, and engagement of guest artists.   The ED fosters a work environment that supports artistic excellence and that allows the Music Director, orchestra musicians, and guest artists to do their best work.  The ED negotiates terms and ensures that the Albany Symphony’s collective bargaining agreement with musicians is implemented fairly. The ED maintains positive and productive relationships with the Orchestra’s performance venues.
• The Executive Director strengthens and expands education and community engagement initiatives throughout the Capital region. The ED actively seeks to develop partnerships and collaborations with other arts, educational, cultural, and social service organizations in the area.  The ED is a major spokesperson and visible representative of the Orchestra in the community and is an active participant in community life.

Candidate Profile 

• The successful candidate will be an experienced executive who combines a passion for music and orchestras with a track record for leading a not-for-profit organization to achieve its mission and exceed its strategic goals.  The candidate will have senior orchestra management experience; experience as the chief administrative officer is preferred.
• The successful candidate will be a strategic thinker with the ability to imagine and evaluate the benefits of new initiatives, balancing projected costs against risks.  The candidate will be an effective manager of people and projects and will have strong budgeting and financial management skills.  The candidate will have excellent interpersonal skills and the ability to inspire and motivate professional staff and volunteers to meet and exceed expectations.
• The successful candidate will have a strong working knowledge of music and the business of music, including commissioning, recording, and electronic media.  Interest in, and knowledge of, contemporary and American music will be an asset.   The candidate will have the demonstrated ability to work successfully with a music director, professional musicians, and other creative and performing artists in a collective bargaining environment.
• The successful candidate will be a willing and enthusiastic fundraiser with a track record for leading development staff to achieve and exceed goals for contributed income from all sources through donor identification, cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship of gifts from all sources, including major and transformational donors.   Experience with endowment and capital campaigns will be an asset.
• The successful candidate will have the demonstrated ability to oversee the design and implementation of effective marketing and audience development campaigns that result in sustained increases in earned income.  The candidate will have a track record for attracting and welcoming audiences from all parts of the diverse community.
• The successful candidate will be able to speak and write persuasively about the value and importance of the Albany Symphony.  The candidate will have the demonstrated ability to develop the community connections necessary to build, nurture, and sustain positive relationships with all patrons and donors, and to translate that into sustained and growing financial support.
• The successful candidate will be creative, innovative, and strategic.  The candidate will be persistent and persuasive and have the emotional maturity to work effectively in an environment that requires both decisiveness and accommodation.  The candidate will be able to anticipate potential conflicts and align differing points of view to achieve a shared goal.
• The successful candidate will be able to participate in evening and weekend concerts and events on a regular basis.

Please submit a cover letter that describes your specific interest in the Albany Symphony and your qualifications for the position.  Send with a resume and salary expectations.  Please also include the names of several professional references.  All applications will be treated as confidential and references will not be contacted without the applicant’s agreement.   Electronic submissions are requested.

The position will remain open until filled; the Search Committee will begin to review credentials in early March, 2024.

Albany Symphony

c/o Catherine French Group

2500 Q Street NW, Suite 623

Washington, DC  20007

applications@catherinefrenchgroup.com

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