Boston — Not long after Mark Volpe announced his retirement as President and CEO of the Boston Symphony Orchestra in January 2020, the orchestra posted on their website the “BSO President & CEO Position Description,” prepared by the executive search firm Russell Reynolds Associates. Such a document is obviously necessary to the recruitment of a new CEO. But it serves an additional purpose: It allows us to see in writing what we have known all along: Replacing a man like Mark Volpe is not easy. In fact, some have insisted that it’s impossible, even going so far as to recommend that the BSO board forcibly detain Mr. Volpe in Boston. With handcuffs. Fortunately, such desperate measures will be unnecessary, now that the orchestra has chosen its next President and CEO. On June 21, 2021, Gail Samuel and will officially become the first female President and Chief Executive Officer of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the eighth in the organization’s 140-year history.
Having helped establish the Los Angeles Philharmonic as one of the world’s most successful and publicly engaged symphony orchestras, Samuel is in a good position to carry on the BSO’s mission of connecting classical music with community. She will lead the Symphony Orchestra, the Boston Pops, and Tanglewood, and will oversee a number of initiatives that will expand the reach and relevance of orchestral music in the Boston area, the Berkshires, and beyond.
Currently President of the Hollywood Bowl and Chief Operating Officer of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Samuel has three decades of experience in orchestra management. She will join the BSO after serving 25 years in senior leadership at the LA Philharmonic, concluding a successful tenure that produced record financial growth, thriving community partnerships, and a number of groundbreaking programs and performance spaces widely considered the industry “gold standard.”Â
Against all odds, it looks to all the world like a perfect fit.Â
