Wednesday (10/26) on the Washington Post blog ArtsPost, Jacqueline Trescott reports, “Ava Spece, executive director of the DC Youth Orchestra, announced Wednesday she is leaving the post at one of the city’s oldest arts organizations. Playing in the orchestra has been a rite of passage in the last 50 years for young people from all parts of Washington. Spece joined the orchestra’s office in December 2004. At that time, she said in a telephone interview, ‘the education was awesome and amazing but there were a lot of things that needed to be addressed. We had to repair some relationships.’ She said the partnership with the DC Public Schools had been ‘faltering’ and has been resolved. For the last seven years, Spece said, the group has been solvent. ‘And even in the terrible economy of the last two years, our contributed income has increased,’ she said. Spece plans to stay until early January. … Right now the orchestra and classes draw 800 students, with about 40 instructors. … One of her goals, Spece said, was getting the orchestra back on the touring circuit. Next week they head off to Baltimore and Philadelphia, where they will play with the Philadelphia Youth Orchestra.”
Posted October 27, 2011
