Symphony’s new CEO passionate about arts education
High-dollar donors had cause for an extra toast at the Phoenix Symphony’s New Year’s Eve gala at the Arizona Biltmore on Tuesday night: the announcement of the next president and CEO of the $13 million-a-year nonprofit.
Suzanne Wilson, a seasoned executive focused on arts education, takes over those titles from Jim Ward — hired in 2011 to engineer a financial turnaround — on Jan. 21.
Wilson previously led the Midori Foundation, aka Midori & Friends, which connects underserved youths in New York City with top-flight music teachers. She also has held leadership positions at the New England Conservatory, the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation and the Celebrity Series of Boston.
Dedicated to opening doors
Studying classical piano and voice “became a gateway to numerous opportunities for me as a young student,” said Wilson, who got an early leg up from the high school outreach program at Boston University’s Tanglewood Institute.
Much of her career has been dedicated to bringing similar opportunities to young people who might not have easy access to artistic opportunities.
“That just struck a chord with me,” she said. “I was really thrilled that I could use my other skill set and apply it while advocating for the performing arts. The work has been very meaningful.”
Wilson’s résumé indicates that the symphony will continue to prioritize programs aimed at making a difference in the community, such as Mind Over Music (integrating the arts into STEM education) and B-Sharp Music Wellness (applied research on music therapy as a treatment for Alzheimer’s).
Both programs were championed by Ward, and both are examples of a trend at large cultural institutions across the country — in part because the big foundations are directing their grant dollars toward ambitious initiatives to create positive social change.
However, Wilson’s background in the arts is a contrast with Ward’s, whose previous job was expanding the global brands of Star Wars and Indiana Jones as a top exec at Lucasfilm and president of LucasArts, the video game division. (He also ran for Congress as a “tea party” Republican in 2010.)
Jim Ward’s ‘interim’ run turned into 8 years
Like most arts organizations in the years following the 2007-08 crash, the symphony was in financial trouble when Ward came on board. He started as an interim, with a short-term mission to stanch the red ink, and the fact that he remained so long is a mark of steady leadership, especially since his first accomplishment was negotiating a 19% salary cut for the musicians.
The pain paved the way for gains. In addition to launching the Mind Over Music and B-Sharp initiatives, Ward oversaw the 2014 selection of music director Tito Muñoz, who has brought a fresh focus on contemporary American composers to the orchestra’s Classics series.
Ward also expanded the audience base — and lowered the average age of ticket buyers — with more pop-culture programming aimed at families (“Cirque Cinderella,” “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince in Concert”) and baby boomers (“Music of ABBA,” “Music of David Bowie”).
A venture capitalist, Ward had already begun working with Santa Febased Meow Wolf (which creates immersive art experiences around the country) when he announced in May that he would be leaving the symphony at the end of the year. A national search for his replacement, guided by Arts Consulting Group, began in June.
Women take 2 top leadership roles
Molly DeFilippis, former head of corporate development for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, led the search committee for the board of directors. She takes over as board chair Jan. 1, becoming only the second woman to hold that position in the symphony’s 73-year history (after well-known philanthropist Jeanne Herberger).
DeFilippis said Wilson will continue her predecessor’s efforts to finalize a formal collaboration with Arizona State University’s Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts.
She added that the search committee also had been looking for someone who could hit “a refresh button” on community relations and development — that is, fundraising, which hasn’t been quite as robust as box office in recent years.
“We are not as well known in the community, and we want to change that,” she said. “We are planning to do a listening tour with the new CEO and meet with all different types of organizations and foundations and see what they think the symphony means to them.”
Fundraising challenges are a national trend for orchestras and many other non-profits, said outgoing board chair Dr. Ollie Harper.
“We’re retooling our development team, and we’re very optimistic about that,” he said.