Come this fall, the New York Philharmonic is getting a transformed home, when David Geffen Hall reopens after a $550 million renovation. In the not so distant future, the orchestra will also have a new musical director to replace its departing conductor.
On Friday, the orchestra announced another change: Gary Ginstling, the executive director of the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington, will replace Deborah Borda, a respected, dynamic figure at the Philharmonic, as president and chief executive next year.
The appointment heralds a new era for the Philharmonic, America’s oldest symphony orchestra, as it works to attract new audiences as it recovers from the turmoil of the coronavirus pandemic. While the orchestra appears to have weathered its worst crisis, the pandemic has given new urgency to questions about changing audience habits and expanding into the digital sphere.
Ginstling, who will join the Philharmonic as executive director this fall before succeeding Borda next year, said he wanted to seize the momentum of the Geffen Hall renovation.
“This is a unique moment in time when the orchestra is coming out of a very difficult period,” he said in an interview. “This new home will be truly transformative for the musicians, for the audience, for orchestras everywhere and for the city. There is an opportunity for the Philharmonic to make the most of this moment and set itself up for long-term success.”
The appointment marks a generational change at the Philharmonic. Ginstling, 56, will take over from Borda, 72, who led the Philharmonic in the 1990s and returned in 2017 to oversee the long-delayed renovation of Geffen Hall. The return of Borda, one of the nation’s most successful arts administrators, who in the meantime helped transform the Los Angeles Philharmonic into one of the nation’s premier ensembles — moving it to a new home, stabilizing its shaky finances, and Gustavo Dudamel as its music director – was considered a coup for the orchestra, which at the time was struggling with shortages and fundraising difficulties.
Borda said that with the venue and orchestra reopening on firmer financial footing after the long pandemic shutdown, she felt it was time to step aside. She will resign from her position on June 30, 2023, but will continue as an advisor to Ginstling and the Philharmonic’s board, where she assists with fundraising and other matters.
“Those of us from my generation, we did our best, but it’s time to really support and introduce a new generation of leadership that will bring new ideas about everything,” she said in an interview. “This was the right time.”
Borda started working with the board last year to find a successor. They were looking for a leader who could guide the institution through a time of profound transition. After interviewing five candidates, in May the Philharmonic offered the job to Ginstling, who has led orchestras in Cleveland, Indianapolis and Washington DC.
“We wanted someone who had the experience, but who was also young enough to have a long runway,” Peter W. May, co-chair of the Philharmonic’s board of directors, said in an interview. “He also impressed us with the way he reached out to the community.”
After joining the National Symphony Orchestra in 2017, Ginstling experimented with new ways to reach audiences, including performing in a 6,000-seat arena designed for rock music. He was credited with helping boost ticket sales, subscriptions and donations. He worked closely with Gianandrea Noseda, the musical director of the National Symphony, whose contract there was recently extended until the end of the 2026-2027 season.
In New York, Ginstling faces familiar challenges. Even before the pandemic, managing orchestras was difficult. Labor costs have risen. Ticket sales have declined due to the extinction of the old seasonal subscription model. Robust fundraising has become essential as donations make up an increasing proportion of orchestra budgets.
The pandemic put new pressure on the Philharmonic, which was forced to cancel the 2020-21 season, lay off staff and cut musicians’ salaries by 25 percent. (The Philharmonic announced this week that it would soon reverse those cuts.)
For all its devastation, the pandemic also presented an opportunity, allowing the orchestra to accelerate its renovation schedule by a year and a half (the venue will now open on October 7). Over the past year, the orchestra had no permanent residence and roamed around various theatres, many of which were smaller than Geffen.
Ginstling, a clarinetist with degrees from Yale, Juilliard and the Anderson School of Management at the University of California, Los Angeles, said he would continue the Philharmonic’s efforts to showcase a diverse roster of composers and conductors.
“If we are in a post-Covid world, and I’m not sure we are already,” he said, “the biggest challenges are rebuilding the public and then finding ways to connect with our communities.” and in new and different ways.”
The Philharmonic has just begun the search for a conductor to replace Jaap van Zweden, the maestro since 2018, who unexpectedly announced in September that he would be stepping down at the end of the 2023-24 season. Conductors such as Dudamel, Susanna Mälkki and Santtu-Matias Rouvali have been named as possible contenders, although the field remains open.
It is unclear whether the search will be completed before the end of Borda’s tenure. She said she was “moving full steam ahead” and would continue to offer advice as needed.
In a statement, Van Zweden, who said last year that he was leaving the orchestra because the pandemic had made him rethink his life and priorities, praised Borda’s stewardship of the orchestra.
“The future and safety of this orchestra is very important to me, and I am grateful to Deborah for leading with me from a strong position,” he said. “I’m really looking forward to welcoming Gary and working with him.”
The appointment is a sort of homecoming for Ginstling, who grew up in New Jersey, the son of a Juilliard-trained pianist and a tax attorney. His parents subscribed to Philharmonic concerts and he attended concerts with such giants as Leonard Bernstein and Zubin Mehta. He started playing the clarinet in elementary school and later studied with a Philharmonic player.
“I’ve long had a deep love and passion for orchestras and orchestral music,” he said, “and it really started with the New York Philharmonic.”