Location: Jesse H. Jones Hall for the Performing Arts

Round trip transportation will be provided from the Marriott Marquis Houston.

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; 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 will showcase the Houston Youth Symphony conducted by Artistic Director Michael Webster performing Grammy winner Jessie Montgomery's Soul Force and Silvestre Revueltas's Sensemayá.

We’ll also hear 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 will be 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 have generously co-sponsored the Opening Session at the League's Conference.

Speaker(s): Chris Harrington, President and Chief Executive Officer, Ordway Center in St. Paul, Minnesota and John McCann, President, Partners in Performance

Gen-X, Millennials, and Gen-Z place a high priority on learning and development as an institutional value of the places they choose to work. Data on their preferences can be used to craft strategies that result in better prepared leaders. This session will illustrate the shift in human resources theory and practice from merely "attract and retain" to "attract, develop, and retain." We will identify key elements of a useful leadership development strategy and suggest talent development practices and behaviors consistent with positive outcomes.

After this session, the facilitators will be available for an additional hour to engage with participants around specific questions, ideas, and opportunities related to leadership development.

Speaker(s): Laura MacDonald, Founder, Benefactor Group

Orchestras are reliant on charitable giving to fuel their concerts and community work. As wealth transfers from older to younger generations, how can we adapt our fundraising strategies to attract philanthropic investments? Join Laura MacDonald, past chair of Giving USA and founder of Benefactor Group, to explore data-driven approaches that will inform your orchestra’s efforts to raise funds for today while creating a resilient foundation for the future.

This session has generously been sponsored by DCM.

Speaker(s): Doug McLennan, Editor, ArtsJournal.com and Simon Woods, President and CEO, League of American Orchestras

Part 1 of AI and the Future of Classical Music: How Artificial Intelligence Is Changing Creative Fields

Starting in Houston, and continuing through the second half of 2024, the League of American Orchestras and ArtsJournal will present a series of conversations that will dive into the opportunities of generative artificial intelligence and address the profound implications it has for all those who work in classical music and the arts more broadly.

In conversation with League President and CEO, Simon Woods, Doug McClennan will lay out the stakes for artists, orchestras, arts organizations, and the creative industries generally, identifying major challenges, opportunities and shifts in thinking that AI poses.

AI and the Future of Classical Music: How Artificial Intelligence Is Changing Creative Fields is presented by the League of American Orchestras in partnership with ArtsJournal. This live session in Houston will be followed by three webinars during the fall of 2024, each featuring special guests in conversation with Doug:

1. How AI will transform the business of orchestras.

2. AI and artistic opportunities.

3. The AI policy landscape – intellectual property, machine learning, plus lessons from the Big Tech revolution of the 1990s.

Join us for these important discussions about one of the defining issues of our time.

This session has generously been sponsored by MSA.

Speaker(s): Elisha Johnson, Associate Director of Audience Engagement, Arkansas Symphony; Eric Nelson, Vice President of Global Partnerships, TRG Arts; Michael Smith, Executive Director, Charleston Symphony; and Josh Tague, Director of Marketing & Communications, Omaha Symphony

Join TRG Arts' Eric Nelson and leaders from three orchestras as they discuss strategies in audience engagement and development. The session will begin with a presentation by TRG Arts, highlighting key audience trends from the Arts & Culture Benchmark, and then transition to an interactive dialogue with the marketing leaders. They will share their experiences and approaches in connecting with growing audiences, offering insights and results in the evolving dynamics of orchestral audience engagement.

This session is made possible by a generous grant from The Wallace Foundation.

Speaker(s): Dr. Ahmad Sarmast, Founder and Director, Afghanistan National Institute of Music (ANIM)

The Conference will conclude with a luncheon featuring Resilient Sounds, a Houston Symphony project—in partnership with Rice University, University of Houston, and Interfaith Ministries for Greater Houston—celebrating the determination and hope of Houston’s refugee communities.

We’ll also hear from Dr. Ahmad Naser Sarmast, Founding Director of the Afghanistan National Institute of Music (ANIM), which fled Taliban-occupied Kabul for Lisbon, where the entire school community was not only granted asylum but also invited to resettle and rebuild.

No additional cost. The Closing Luncheon is included in your Conference registration!

The Closing Luncheon has been generously co-sponsored by Threshold Acoustics.