National Conference Luncheon
Friday June 13, 2008

League Chairman of the Board Lowell J. Noteboom Presentation
Honoring Henry Fogel



Watch the speech (Streaming)

(Photos: Mark T. Osler/PJeye.com) 

It was exactly 30 years ago, in 1978, that Henry Fogel left behind his 15-year tenure at classical Radio Station WONO in Syracuse, New York and entered the orchestra management field. He brought with him fifteen years of accumulated knowledge of the orchestral literature and, of course, his trademark voice.

When he left radio, he jumped right into the deep end of the orchestra pool, with his very first job being that of Orchestra Manager of the New York Philharmonic, working for and with Nick Webster.

Henry has been in the deep end of the orchestra pool ever since, always with his head above water, and occasionally seeming to walk on it.

After three years in New York, he was appointed Executive Director of the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington, D.C., where he served for four years (’81-’85).

And then, in 1985, he was named President and CEO of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, a post he held for the next eighteen years, until 2003, when he was named President and CEO of the American Symphony Orchestra League, making him the Number One ASOL in the country.

That may, in fact, have provided the real impetus for his leading the name-change process we finalized last year.

Indeed, Henry was quick to point out that the League’s new acronym, LAO, is the Chinese word for “old” as in “wise elder.” It is fitting that, as we honor Henry at the end of his five-year term as our leader, he departs as the Number One Wise Elder in our field.

Henry’s Chicago years included not only managing and leading the Chicago Symphony, but the Civic Orchestra, the Chicago Symphony Chorus, and the Symphony Center facility. During his years there, the endowment grew from $15 million to more than $160 million…all of that in addition to the completion of the award-winning $160-million Symphony Center renovation and expansion.

Henry has never been accused of thinking small.

Henry has received an endless list of honors, awards, and honorary degrees. He has served and now serves on numerous boards, including an earlier ten-year stint on the ASOL Board in the late ’80s and early ’90s. And, of course, he was the League Board Chair in 2001-2003, before we named him to his present position as President and CEO.

He has served our field in both traditional and unique ways. He has produced many radio programs for Chicago Fine Arts Station WFMT that have been syndicated nationally, including a current program, “Collectors’ Corner,” derived from his extensive personal collection of more than 20,000 classical recordings. He is also a regular panelist on the Opera Quiz for the Metropolitan Opera’s international broadcasts.

On the more unique side, he has served as a judge at several conducting competitions all over the world, and writes a monthly column for Auditorium, the leading music magazine in South Korea.

On his five-year watch as CEO of the League, he has presided over balanced budgets, an extensive strategic planning process that is taking us in a new direction, and a $25-million fund-raising campaign that is providing a new level of financial stability and opportunity. In the last 18 months we have witnessed record-setting financial support from donors, both individuals and foundations.

But, most impressively, Henry knows and loves the music. He knows it far better than any non-musician I have ever known. In fact, he knows it far better than most musicians.

He loves the repertoire. He loves to hear it performed. He believes in its power to inspire, to transform, to uplift, and to heal. And he has communicated his beliefs effectively, all over the country, in hundreds of settings for years and years. His enthusiasm is contagious, and he has been infecting the field for decades.

For all that can be said and admired about Henry’s long and storied career, with high-profile day jobs at three highly renowned, internationally acclaimed orchestras, it would not be complete without acknowledging the more than a quarter-century he has devoted to his broader service to the field that has made him a folk hero with hundreds of small and medium-sized orchestras across this country, and for very good reason. That is where Henry has done his water-walking.

Henry has poured himself into serving the field, speaking and writing passionately about all that is good in it. In recent years, he has been an incessant road warrior, spending endless hours on airplanes (and waiting for delayed airplanes) as he traversed the country in service to the field.

His advice to local orchestra boards, management teams, and musicians….always freely and generously given…. is also always well laced with encouragement and optimism.

He knows everyone in the business and enjoys those relationships. He knows the history and all the stories, including some he appropriately doesn’t share publicly. The definition of “raconteur” is one who excels in telling stories and anecdotes. Henry is most certainly, and in the finest sense, the ultimate raconteur in our field.

He has been the visiting fireman, helping to put out fires. He has been a one-man national guard, quelling local disturbances and mediating disputes.

I have read dozens and dozens of letters of appreciation that have poured into the League office over the past several years from local orchestras who have been grateful for Henry’s visits, his advice and his encouragement.

And so, it is fitting that as we looked for an appropriate way to honor this very unique friend of the orchestral world, the Board of Directors of the League concluded that the best way was to create a commissioning fund for a new work to be written for Henry and premiered by those orchestras across America he has served so selflessly over the years.

Members of the League Board have personally contributed $40,000 to a gift to be given to a small committee of orchestras that will serve as the nucleus of a consortium that will commit to performing the work. Scott Falkner, Executive Director of the Reno Chamber Orchestra, is here to tell you more about the details, and then I will be back to present the award to Henry…

* * * * * * *

Henry, it is the intent of this gift to capture the energy of the smaller-budget orchestras where you have made such a deep investment and to honor you for all that you have done in service of our field.

For your 30 years of deep devotion to America’s orchestras, your generous and dedicated service to the League these past seven years as our board chair, and for your positive and optimistic spirit, we say thank you for a job well done.