Music Director Paul Freeman and the Chicago Sinfonietta. (Photo credit: Ken Carl)
If you are interested in exploring a career in orchestra management or looking for that right next step, the League has programs designed to help you advance to a great new job.
Click here to find out how you can participate in an informational interview with a top orchestra executive near you. You’ll get to speak one-on-one with an experienced orchestra manager or department director in your area of interest.
View sample descriptions of standard positions in the orchestral field. You may find something that sounds just right for you.
League members can visit the League’s Careers website to view or post position vacancies and study resumes of potential candidates.
The League offers assistance to orchestras embarking on a Music
Director search through the Careers website, as well as a recurrent
Orchestra Leadership Academy seminar and a free publication for search
committees, Managing Your Music Director Search. (
Download this publication now)
Recruiting administrative leadership is a fundamental and defining responsibility of any nonprofit board. The League offers assistance to orchestra boards facing this daunting task. We urge search committees to read the essay, Orchestra Search. It offers sound advice about how to approach an executive search and identifies several search firms that have experience working with orchestras. (The search firms included in the Orchestra Search essay each paid a fee to the League. The League has no other business relationship with these organizations.) All the services described in Orchestra Search are free to League member orchestras.
The League offers a number of programs, from seminars to fellowships, through the Learning and Leadership Development department.
Newly launched, the three-year-long Executive Leadership Program is a key element in the League’s commitment to an expanded investment in leadership development. Created for executive directors in the early years of service in those roles, the program helps to build “bench strength” by investing in those with talent, capacity, and potential.
The League's Orchestra Management Fellowship Program is a year-long management training program intended for a limited number of highly qualified individuals who aspire to be leaders in the field.
The Orchestra Leadership Academy offers seminars and courses to enhance the skills of orchestra executive directors, staff members, trustees, conductors, musicians, and volunteers.
Mentoring circles offer an opportunity to discuss topics of common interest with a small group of colleagues facilitated by an experienced professional in the field. Content is determined by the group and is flexible, dynamic, and confidential.
Questions regarding careers in the field should be addressed to:
Polly Kahn, Vice President, Learning & Leadership Development
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