Los Angeles, March 28, 2017 - Los Angeles Philharmonic Board Chairman Jay Rasulo announced today the appointment of Gail Samuel as the Acting President and CEO of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, effective immediately. The Board has formed a search committee led by Rasulo to identify the Association's next President and CEO. Deborah Borda will remain at the LA Phil as Advisor to the Board of Directors until June 1, 2017, after which she will leave to become President and CEO of the New York Philharmonic.
Executive Director of the LA Phil since March 2015, Samuel previously served as Acting President and CEO while Borda was on sabbatical at Harvard University in the Fall of 2015. Samuel has worked at the Los Angeles Philharmonic Association for 25 years, beginning as Orchestra Manager and rising through the organization, holding a variety of critical positions during that time. She was promoted from Vice President and General Manager, Philharmonic and Production to Chief Operating Officer in 2012 and to her current position in 2015. Previously, Samuel has held positions with the Minnesota Orchestra, Yale University, Tanglewood Music Festival and the Young Musicians Foundation.
Born and raised in Los Angeles, Samuel studied violin and earned undergraduate degrees in music and psychology as well as an MBA from the University of Southern California. Samuel has served on the Board of Councilors for the USC Thornton School of Music since 2009.
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The Los Angeles Philharmonic Association, under the vibrant leadership of Music & Artistic Director Gustavo Dudamel, presents an inspiring array of music from all genres - orchestral, chamber and Baroque music, organ and celebrity recitals, new music, jazz, world music and pop - at two of L.A.'s iconic venues, Walt Disney Concert Hall (www.laphil.com) and the Hollywood Bowl (www.hollywoodbowl.com). The LA Phil's season at Walt Disney Concert Hall extends from September through May, and throughout the summer at the Hollywood Bowl. With the preeminent Los Angeles Philharmonic at the foundation of its offerings, the LA Phil aims to enrich and transform lives through music, with a robust mix of artistic, education and community programs. In the last decade, the LA Phil made ambitious, forward-looking advances in its artistic and social objectives. The orchestra maintains the most active commissioning program in the country and has garnered international acclaim for its interdisciplinary productions and work with new technologies. In the community, the orchestra has become a valued resource, offering such programs as YOLA (Youth Orchestra Los Angeles), which has become a model for effecting social change through music on a national stage.
Sophie Jefferies, sjefferies@laphil.org, 213.972.3422