Asheville Symphony competitors

Steven B. Libman is a President & Chief Executive Officer at Jacksonville Symphony.

Martha A. Gilmer was named Chief Executive Officer of the San Diego Symphony Orchestra in October 2014 and leads the institution in realizing all areas of its mission: expanding its programming, increasing its community engagement, heightening its artistic profile, and building its capacity to share transformative experiences. Working with the Board and staff, Gilmer created the strategic plan that has been guiding the Symphony since 2016. Among the major changes she has initiated are the appointment in 2018 of the internationally acclaimed Rafael Payare as SDSO’s 13th Music Director and the appointment in 2019 of the distinguished Edo de Waart to serve as the first principal guest conductor in SDSO’s century-long history. She initiated the Symphony’s annual festival that includes partnerships with many organizations throughout the city, inaugurated the Jazz @ the Jacobs series, and rebranded the Bayside Summer Nights series. Expanding on SDSO’s summer programming and community outreach, she partnered with the Port of San Diego to develop the Symphony’s first permanent outdoor venue, The Shell®, along with integral improvements and upgrades to Embarcadero Marina Park South, while overseeing the fundraising campaign that secured 99 percent of the project cost from private sources. Known for her history of collaborating with many of today’s most talented guest artists and composers and for her commitment to contemporary music, Gilmer has engaged leading guest artists for their San Diego premieres, commissioned new works, and presented important West Coast premieres. Martha Gilmer came to SDSO from the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, where in the course of a three-decade career she rose to the position of Vice President for Artistic Planning and Audience Development. At the CSO, she developed long-term relationships with many of the most outstanding artists and composers of our time and developed a host of innovative programs connecting the orchestra with new audiences in Chicago and around the world. She is a graduate of the Northwestern University School of Music and has been active as an alumna, serving on the Visiting Committee and the Dean Search Committee and delivering the 2000 commencement address. She frequently writes and lectures about music.

David Fisk joined the Charlotte Symphony as its new President & CEO in August 2020. For the previous eighteen years, he was Executive Director of the Richmond Symphony, Virginia. Prior to that, David served as Chief Executive of the Ulster Orchestra in Belfast, the national symphony of Northern Ireland, and as General Manager of the Orchestra of St. John's, Smith Square in London, one of the United Kingdom's principal chamber orchestras. He has also held the position of Development Director for the Yorkshire Sculpture Park - the UK's leading open-air art gallery complex - and was creator and Executive Director of the award-winning Manchester International Festival of Expressionism 1992. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts in 2001. Strong financial management and access to music for all were consistent theme of David's 18 years in Richmond. Under his leadership, the operating budget doubled; the Symphony's endowment grew from $8M to $18M; and a cash reserve was created. The Richmond Symphony expanded its youth orchestras program to five; created its annual 'Come & Play' event, that brings 700 community members together playing with the RSO musicians; launched its Lollipops family concerts, and Rush Hour at Hardywood Brewery concerts; and presented many popular new programs that have introduced tens of thousands of new audiences to the Symphony. David was the mastermind behind the Richmond Symphony's 'Big Tent', a $250,000 mobile stage that transformed the Symphony's relationship with the City of Richmond and the neighboring Counties. The Big Tent has become a cultural icon for the region, bringing families together for community festivals in public parks, including a record crowd of 22,000 for one 4th July celebration. Most noteworthy, though, has been the Big Tent's ability to generate proceeds from its events, of almost $500,000 to date, to buy musical instruments for all the City's elementary and middle schools, so that every public school student has access to learning an instrument. Born in Great Britain, David began his musical life aged 8 as a boy chorister for five years at St. Paul's Cathedral in London, where he also studied piano, cello and organ. He continued those studies through high school, before pursuing a bachelor's degree in music from Manchester University, specializing in piano. He holds a postgraduate performer's diploma in piano accompaniment from the Royal Northern College of Music, where he also studied harpsichord, composition and conducting. David worked for a number of years as a freelance composer/arranger, conductor, opera coach, and orchestral keyboard-player, before moving into arts management. Throughout his career, David has continued to give public concerts frequently as an instrumental and vocal accompanist, and in recent years as a substitute church organist. David Fisk is married to the Irish soprano Anne O'Byrne, with a new home in the Dilworth neighborhood of Charlotte. They have a daughter, Fionnuala or ''Finn'', (23), and son Oliver, (20). Other than music, David's hobbies include swimming, tennis and scuba diving - often off the coast of North Carolina - horse riding, and motorcycling. He is currently learning Spanish, slowly.

Mr. Peter H. Gistelinck is a President and Chief Executive Officer at Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra and is based in United States.