Who We Are - Symphony

Symphony, the signature publication of the League of American Orchestras, covers the critical issues, developments, trends, and people of the orchestra world. Published online year-round, with a special Symphony magazine print edition for the League’s National Conference, Symphony features breaking news, cutting-edge research, provocative essays, interviews, and in-depth articles that take readers behind the scenes to examine how orchestras are innovating to meet the challenges of the 21st century.

Symphony has reported on the orchestra field—from audience trends to personnel changes to digital innovations—since its founding by the League of American Orchestras in 1942, while also giving the latest thinking and newest ideas their first exposure. Symphony’s awards include multiple ASCAP Foundation Deems Taylor/Virgil Thomson Awards for outstanding coverage of orchestras. Most recently, Symphony received awards for music journalism in 2020 and 2021.

Submission Guidelines

Got a story idea? Here’s what you need to know.

Press releases and article ideas about activities at orchestras and in classical music may be sent to:

orchnews@americanorchestras.org and bsandla@americanorchestras.org.

Symphony accepts articles from freelance writers. Send queries with a link to writing samples or a summary of published work that relates to Symphony subject matter. Symphony requires first publication rights. We welcome written queries presenting ideas that we can shape with the writer to match our readers’ interests. We welcome article proposals from writers whose backgrounds and perspectives are underrepresented in classical music. Payments to writers are made upon manuscript acceptance.

Article ideas must directly address the concerns and interests of the orchestra field. Consider whether there is a specific orchestral connection in your story before pitching an idea. Topics of interest include classical music trends; repertoire; equity, diversity, and inclusion; new American orchestral music; business models; technology; emerging artists; music education; pops programming; public advocacy; nonprofit and board governance; and classical-music festivals.

We reprint excerpts from upcoming or recent books and articles that focus on the orchestra field. Contact us with proposals.

We welcome reprint requests. Reprints of Symphony articles must include a line crediting Symphony that appears with all subsequent publications.

Contact Us

Symphony

League of American Orchestras 
520 8th Avenue, Suite 2005 
New York, NY 10018

Telephone

212 262 5161

General Information

Publicists: Press releases and other announcements concerning orchestras and classical music may be sent to: orchnews@americanorchestras.org and bsandla@americanorchestras.org.

General Inquiries: For assistance, contact League Member Services at 626 822 4010 or member@americanorchestras.org.

Advertise with Symphony and reach the people who make the decisions in the orchestra world! Contact Steve Alter, Director of Conferences and Business Engagement, at salter@americanorchestras.org or 646 822 4051.

Bob Sandla

Editor in Chief

Robert Sandla has been the editor in chief of Symphony since 2007. He was previously editor in chief of Stagebill, in the communications departments of the New York Philharmonic and Lincoln Center, and an editorial consultant for New York City Ballet and other performing-arts groups.

Stephen Alter

Director of Business Engagement

Steve Alter has been helping the League's business partners reach orchestras around the US for more than 23 years. In his role as Director of Business Engagement, you will find him helping advertisers and sponsors achieve ROI on their marketing investment.

Aaron Flagg

Dr. Aaron A. Flagg is chair and associate director of Jazz Studies at the Juilliard School; former dean and professor of The Hartt School, University of Hartford; a professional trumpeter; a former board member of the Stamford Symphony Orchestra; and a current board member of the Strategic National Arts Alumni Project and the League of America Orchestras, where he serves as secretary and chair of the League’s Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Committee.

View all articles by Aaron

Brian Wise

Brian Wise writes about music for BBC Music magazine, Strings, and MusicalAmerica.com. He is the producer of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s national radio series.

View all articles by Brian

Brin Solomon

Brin Solomon is a writer and composer living and working in New York City. Bylines include National Sawdust Log, San Francisco Classical Voice, I Care If You Listen, and New Music USA.

View all articles by Brin

Bruce Coppock

View all articles by Bruce

David Styers

David Styers is the director of Learning and Leadership Programs at the League of American Orchestras.

View all articles by David

Elena Dubinets

Elena Dubinets is the artistic director of the London Philharmonic Orchestra. She previously held top artistic planning positions at the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and the Seattle Symphony. She received her MA and PhD degrees from the Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Russia and has lived in the U.S. since 1996, moving to London in 2021.

View all articles by Elena

Hannah Edgar

Hannah Edgar is a freelance music journalist and researcher, writing most often for the Chicago Tribune as its classical music and jazz critic.

View all articles by Hannah

Heidi Waleson

Heidi Waleson is the opera critic of the Wall Street Journal and author of Mad Scenes and Exit Arias: The Death of New York City Opera and the Future of Opera in America (Metropolitan Books/Picador).

View all articles by Heidi

Hobart Earle

View all articles by Hobart

Hugh Robertson

Hugh Robertson is the deputy editor of Limelight, Australia’s leading arts and culture publication.

View all articles by Hugh

Jasmine Liu

Jasmine Liu is a journalist from the San Francisco Bay Area who writes about literature in translation, contemporary art, classical music, and more. She holds bachelor’s degrees from Stanford University in anthropology and mathematics.

View all articles by Jasmine

Jeff Lunden

Jeff Lunden is a freelance arts reporter whose work is frequently heard on NPR and other public radio outlets. He’s also a musical theater composer who wrote a show about the Transcontinental Railroad that played in New York City and toured the country for Theatreworks/USA, a leading presenter of theater for young audiences.

View all articles by Jeff

Jennifer Melick

Jennifer Melick, Symphony magazine’s former longtime managing editor, is communications and media relations manager at Detroit Opera and a frequent contributing writer at Opera News.

View all articles by Jennifer

Jeremy Reynolds

Jeremy Reynolds is the classical music critic at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and the editor of OPERA America Magazine.

View all articles by Jeremy

Jim Farber

Jim Farber has been a music critic and arts feature writer in Los Angeles since 1982. He is the Los Angeles correspondent for San Francisco Classical Voice and has received five Los Angeles Press Club awards for feature writing and criticism.

View all articles by Jim

John Masko

John Masko is the founding music director of the Providence Medical Orchestra and the National Virtual Medical Orchestra and associate conductor at the Wellesley Symphony Orchestra. As an assistant and cover conductor, he has worked with the San Francisco Symphony, Boston Ballet, and Symphony New Hampshire, among other ensembles.

View all articles by John

Joseph Horowitz

The author of ten previous books about American music, Joseph Horowitz is co-founder and executive producer of PostClassical Ensemble, an experimental chamber orchestra based in Washington, D.C. He has also served as an artistic consultant to more than two dozen American orchestras. An annotated playlist for his inclusive “new paradigm” for American repertoire may be found at http://josephhorowitz.com.

View all articles by Joseph

Theodore Wiprud, with Karen Yair, Kerrien Suarez, and Patrick Castillo

View all articles by Theodore Wiprud, with Karen Yair, Kerrien Suarez, and Patrick Castillo

Mari Yoshihara

Mari Yoshihara is a professor of American Studies at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa and specializes in U.S. cultural history, U.S.-East Asian relations, Asian American studies, and gender studies. She is the author of Musicians from a Different Shore: Asians and Asian Americans in Classical Music (Temple, 2007) and Dearest Lenny: Letters from Japan and the Making of the World Maestro (Oxford, 2019).

View all articles by Mari

Michele C. Hollow

Michele C. Hollow writes about autism, Alzheimer’s, health, and animals. Her byline has appeared in The New York Times, AARP, The Guardian, Parents, and other publications.

View all articles by Michele C. Hollow

Nancy Malitz

Nancy Malitz, who chairs the Music Critics Association of North America, is the founding music critic at USA Today and spearheaded the creation of Classical Voice North America. She has written about the arts and technology for The New York Times, The Washington Post, Detroit News, and dozens of other publications.

View all articles by Nancy

Rebecca Schmid

REBECCA SCHMID is a music writer based in Berlin, contributing to the Financial Times, New York Times, and Berliner Morgenpost. She has moderated and written program notes for the Metropolitan Opera, Salzburg Festival, and Karajan Music Tech Conference.

View all articles by Rebecca

Rebecca Winzenried

Rebecca Winzenried is a New York-based arts writer and a former editor in chief of Symphony.

View all articles by Rebecca

Rita Pyrillis

Rita Pyrillis (Mnicoujou Lakota) is a freelance writer in Evanston, Illinois. Her work has appeared in the Chicago Tribune, Crain’s Chicago Business, Los Angeles Times, and Newsweek, among other publications.

View all articles by Rita

Rosalyn Story

Rosalyn Story is a Dallas-based writer and violinist who performs in the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, Sphinx Symphony Orchestra, and other ensembles. She is author of And So I Sing: African-American Divas of Opera and Concert (1990) and three novels: More Than You Know (2004), Wading Home: A Novel of New Orleans (2010), and Sing Her Name (2022), the latter inspired by the life of soprano Sissieretta Jones.

View all articles by Rosalyn

Simon Woods

President and CEO, League of American Orchestras

Simon Woods is the President and CEO of the League of American Orchestras. He brings over 30 years of experience working with orchestras, including the Los Angeles Philharmonic, New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, The Philadelphia Orchestra, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, and Seattle Symphony. He was honored to become an American citizen in 2018.

View all articles by Simon

Steven Brown

Steven Brown writes about classical music and other arts areas. He is the former classical music critic of the Orlando Sentinel, Charlotte Observer, and Houston Chronicle.

View all articles by Steven

Symphony Staff

View all articles by Symphony

Theodore Wiprud

Theodore Wiprud is a composer and a consultant in the arts and education, and was the longtime Vice President, Education, at the New York Philharmonic. He has been active in multiple EDI initiatives, including the launch of The Catalyst Fund in 2019.

View all articles by Theodore

Thomas May

Thomas May writes and lectures about music and theater. He is the author of Decoding Wagner (Amadeus Press, 2007) and The John Adams Reader (Amadeus Press, 2006)

View all articles by Thomas

Tim Diovanni

Tim Diovanni is a classical music critic and reporter at The Dallas Morning News.

View all articles by Tim

Travis Newton

Travis Newton is the author of Orchestra Management Handbook: Building Relationships in Turbulent Times.

View all articles by Travis

Vivien Schweitzer

Vivien Schweitzer is a Jersey City-based journalist and pianist who writes about music for publications including The Economist. Her first book, A Mad Love: An Introduction to Opera, was selected as one of w’s “Best Books We Read in 2021.”

View all articles by Vivien

Advertise with Us

Let us help you leverage a multi-platform program to:

- Deliver key messages
- Deepen engagement
- Increase brand awareness
- Increase traffic with measurable outcomes
- Connect with influencers
- Drive sales

Symphony reaches key decision-makers in the orchestra field, including executive directors, artistic administrators, board members, funders, and senior level executives at more than 650 orchestras across the country.

There is no better place to spend your advertising dollars.

Learn More