League Announces National Conference In Nashville, June 3-5

By: Apr. 16, 2019
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League Announces National Conference In Nashville, June 3-5

The League of American Orchestras' 74th National Conference, in Nashville, June 3-5, 2019, will place music, musicians, and community at the heart of its programming. MUSIC CentriCITY will highlight field-wide advances in equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) and focus on the centrality of music, culture, and collective action in orchestras.

"Orchestras are reimagining mission, meaning, and the future of the art form," said League of American Orchestras President and CEO Jesse Rosen. "With the theme MUSIC CentriCITY, this year's Conference is inspired by Nashville's historic role as Music City-the epicenter of the music industry-and reflects the vital role our host, the Nashville Symphony, plays in the cultural fabric of the city."

"The Nashville Symphony is honored to host to this year's League Conference, and we look forward to welcoming our peers from around the country," said Nashville Symphony President and CEO Alan D. Valentine. "In addition to Nashville's long-standing reputation as Music City, our community is also home to a vibrant, diverse cultural community that embraces collaboration and creative risks, and we are especially excited to showcase this adventurous, collaborative spirit during our performances on June 3."

"Nashville has always been a city where all genres of music are celebrated, and where music is the driving force that brings our community together," said Nashville Symphony Music Director Giancarlo Guerrero. "Our orchestra has been a part of that conversation for more than 70 years. Schermerhorn Symphony Center's location in the heart of the city says it all: Where else can you hear a GRAMMY®-winning Grammy-winning orchestra, and walk just a block or two to hear some of the best country, bluegrass, rock and swing music anywhere?"

About 1,000 orchestra stakeholders-managers, musicians, trustees, volunteers, and business partners-will attend the Conference, which will take place at the Omni Hotel and at the Nashville Symphony's concert hall, Schermerhorn Symphony Center. Visit www.leagueconference2019.org for full details and to register. Early-bird pricing is in effect until April 26.


Plenary Sessions:

A conductor, a musician, and a composer: this year's three Conference plenary speakers reflect the 2019 Conference's focus on music, musicians, and community.

At the Conference's Opening Plenary, Giancarlo Guerrero, Nashville Symphony Martha & Bronson Ingram Music Director Chair, will share his personal journey, leading delegates, as he has led the Nashville Symphony, on an exploration of what it means to be an orchestra in America today. A champion of new music, Guerrero has commissioned and performed dozens of works by American composers reflecting an array of stylistic influences.

Phoenix Symphony Principal Clarinet Alex Laing, a prominent thought leader in the orchestra field, will be the keynote speaker at the League's Annual Meeting and Luncheon. Through words and music, Laing will examine the nature of the art form and the dialogue between musicians and audiences. Additionally, five musicians from U.S. orchestras will receive Ford Musician Awards for Excellence in Community Service, and League of American Orchestras President and CEO Jesse Rosen and Board Chair Douglas M. Hagerman will share updates on the League's work. American Public Media's Performance Today host Fred Child will emcee the event.

Composer Joan Tower will receive the Gold Baton, the League's highest honor, at the Closing Plenary. The event's keynote speaker will be renowned composer and conductor Tania León, founding artistic director of Composers Now, who will explore the progress orchestras have made supporting equity for composers, and her own journey from Cuba to the U.S. She will discuss the importance of rebuilding the bridge between the music of North America and Latin America and how the interplay of cultures expands creative possibility.


Elective Sessions:

The Conference content will be presented in five tracks:

Key sessions include, among others:

  • Preparing the Orchestra Culture for Lasting EDI Work
  • New Voices: Composers of Today
  • At Home and Abroad: The Orchestra as Agent of Change
  • Creating a Culture of Respect in the Era of #MeToo
  • Building a Race Equity Culture: Transforming Your Organizational Culture Beyond Diversity and Inclusion Towards Racial Equity
  • Diversifying Your Audience Through Innovative Programming
  • Auditions, Identity, and Culture
  • Artistic Excellence and Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion: A Moderated Debate
  • Going Beyond Sensory-Friendly Concerts: How to Represent Your Audience on Stage
  • The Musicians' Perspective: Creating Collaborative Cultures in Orchestras
  • Community Identity in Programming
  • Engaging the LGBTQ+ Community
  • Acoustics Tour of Laura Turner Concert Hall at the Schermerhorn Symphony Center
  • Musicians Transforming Communities (featuring recipients of the League's Ford Musician Awards for Excellence in Community Service)
  • Pathways to Organizational Sustainability: Lessons Learned from the American Orchestras' Futures Fund

Performances:

June 3, 1-2:30pm:
During the Opening Plenary, students in Nashville Symphony's Accelerando initiative will premiere a new work by composer Christopher Farrell. Accelerando is an intensive music education program designed to prepare gifted young students of diverse ethnic backgrounds to pursue music at the collegiate level and beyond, forming the next generation of orchestra musicians.

June 3, 7-9:15pm:
Hosts Nashville Symphony and Music Director Giancarlo Guerrero will perform a rich program at Schermerhorn Symphony Center, including Joan Tower's Sixth Fanfare for the Uncommon Woman; Jonathan Leshnoff's Symphony No. 4, "Heichalos," a work commissioned by the Nashville Symphony for the Violins of Hope, instruments played by Jewish musicians during the Holocaust; Barber's Adagio for Strings; and a new production of Orff's Carmina Burana featuring the Nashville Ballet and an original film by Duncan Copp.

June 4, 5:30-6:30pm:
Composer Hannibal Lokumbe's Crucifixion Resurrection: Nine Souls a-Traveling will be performed by Intersection Contemporary Music Ensemble, with Artistic Director Kelly Corcoran conducting, in a free concert at Downtown Presbyterian Church, 154 5th Avenue North. Scored for jazz ensemble, chorus, narrators, and vocal soloists, the work honors the nine victims of the mass shooting at Mother Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, SC. This performance is sponsored by a generous gift from the CHG Charitable Trust, as recommended by Carole Haas Gravagno.

June 5, 1:30-3:00pm:
Time for Three-violinist Nicolas (Nick) Kendall, violinist Charles Yang, and double-bassist Ranaan Meyer-will close the Conference. Time for Three defies traditional genre classification; with an uncommon mix of virtuosity and showmanship, the American trio performs music from Bach to Brahms and beyond, giving world-premieres by Pulitzer Prize-winners William Bolcom and Jennifer Higdon, as well as playing originals and their own arrangements of everything from bluegrass and folk tunes to mash-ups of hits by the Beatles, Kanye West, Katy Perry, Justin Timberlake, and more. Time for Three will play genre-bending works that demonstrate the way that classical musicians can easily cross between musical cultures.


View the Conference schedule here: leagueconference2019.org


The League of American Orchestras leads, supports, and champions America's orchestras and the vitality of the music they perform. Its diverse membership of more than 2,000 organizations and individuals across North America runs the gamut from world-renowned orchestras to community groups, from summer festivals to student and youth ensembles, from conservatories to libraries, from businesses serving orchestras to individuals who love symphonic music. The only national organization dedicated solely to the orchestral experience, the League is a nexus of knowledge and innovation, advocacy, and leadership advancement. Its conferences and events, award-winning Symphony magazine, website, and other publications inform people around the world about orchestral activity and developments. Founded in 1942 and chartered by Congress in 1962, the League links a national network of thousands of instrumentalists, conductors, managers and administrators, board members, volunteers, and business partners. Visit americanorchestras.org.



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