Johnny Langridge has been appointed Chief Executive of Aurora Orchestra, taking up the role from spring 2027. He succeeds John Harte, who leaves after more than 17 years to become Managing Director of the London Symphony Orchestra. Langridge joins from Solomon’s Knot, the baroque collective, where he has served as Executive Director since 2022. Previously he spent a decade as Director of Development and Communications at Garsington Opera, where he played a key role in the £14.5 million capital project that created the Garsington Studios complex. He will work alongside Artistic Director Jane Mitchell and Principal Conductor Nicholas Collon.
Andrea Zietzschmann has announced that she will not renew her contract as General Manager of the Berliner Philharmoniker Foundation for a third term when it expires in August 2028, at which point she will embark on a new path after eleven years in post. Since taking up the role in September 2017, she has significantly expanded the foundation’s international network, opened the Philharmonie Berlin to new audiences, and worked closely with Chief Conductor Kirill Petrenko to maintain the artistic excellence of one of the world’s leading orchestras. She has also been widely credited with steering the orchestra through the pandemic and responding with aplomb to the rapidly changing political circumstances of recent years. Her departure in 2028 is timed to allow her successor to oversee the planned comprehensive refurbishment of the Philharmonie, scheduled for 2032.
Kate Brueggemann has been appointed Chief Development Officer of Lyric Opera of Chicago. She brings more than two decades of experience in philanthropy and institutional advancement, having served as Senior Vice President of Development at Brookfield Zoo Chicago and in senior development roles at the Adler Planetarium, Missouri Botanical Garden and Missouri History Museum. In her new role she will lead Lyric’s development strategy and fundraising operations, overseeing major gifts, annual giving, institutional support and campaign initiatives as a member of the company’s executive leadership team.
Lee Bynum is stepping down as Executive Director of Maestra Music, having joined the organisation in March 2025; they move to academia as Distinguished Lecturer of Arts Administration at Baruch College (CUNY). Founded in 2017 by composer and music director Georgia Stitt, Maestra is a New York-based organisation providing visibility, support and community for women and nonbinary musical theatre professionals, with a directory of more than 2,900 members worldwide. Bynum has previously held senior roles at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, Minnesota Opera and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Stitt will step back into the leadership of the organisation as Founder and President.
Brooke Greybush has been appointed Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Chamber Orchestra. She brings more than 20 years of experience in arts administration, nonprofit leadership and community engagement, having most recently served as interim Executive Director of the Music Academy of State College. Her previous roles include positions with the Johnstown Symphony Orchestra, Altoona Symphony Orchestra and WPSU. In her new role she will oversee operations, fundraising, marketing and strategic planning for the State College-based orchestra, working closely with the board, musicians and community partners.
Louise Herron AM will step down as Chief Executive Officer of the Sydney Opera House in August 2026, exactly 14 years after taking up the role in 2012. During her tenure she delivered the largest programme of capital works since the building opened in 1973, including the renewal of the Concert Hall and Joan Sutherland Theatre, and oversaw 23,000 performances attended by 16 million people. She will join the University of Sydney as a Vice-Chancellor’s Fellow from September and will continue as Chair of the New South Wales Government’s Creative Communities Council. An international recruitment process for her successor is under way, with Kya Blondin, Executive Director of People and Government, acting in the interim.
Alex Ross is stepping down as chief classical music critic of The New Yorker after 30 years in the position, a role he has held since 1996. During his tenure he wrote nearly 400 columns alongside more than 80 longer essays on composers, performers and musical life. He will remain on the magazine’s staff as a writer, turning his attention to literature, film, philosophy and other cultural topics, with occasional forays into music in essay form. Ross is also the author of The Rest Is Noise: Listening to the Twentieth Century, which won the 2008 Guardian First Book Award and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize.
The UAE National Orchestra has appointed Raff Wilson as Artistic Planning Director ahead of its second season, with Wilson taking up the role in July 2026. He brings more than two decades of experience in orchestral leadership, having served as Director of Artistic Planning at the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra and Sydney Symphony Orchestra, and most recently as Vice President of Artistic Planning at the Seattle Symphony. Working alongside conductor Ahmed Farag and the wider leadership team, Wilson will shape future artistic programming, support talent development and foster partnerships for the orchestra, which brings together musicians from more than 30 nationalities and combines Emirati musical heritage and Arabic musical traditions with Western orchestral practice.