“The Louisville Orchestra announced Friday its new executive director will be Andrew Kipe, general manager of the Phoenix Symphony,” writes Elizabeth Kramer in Friday’s (10/11) Courier-Journal (Louisville, Kentucky). In Phoenix, Kramer writes, Kipe “turned the orchestra around from a $2.5 million deficit with the support and cooperation from the orchestra’s musicians. Kipe, 40, will start his new job November 11, taking over for interim chief executive David Hyslop, an orchestra industry consultant who has held the position since February, when CEO Robert Birman resigned…. The hire is part of efforts to revitalize the orchestra following nearly three years of strife rooted in budget deficits that led the organization under Birman to file for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy in 2010…. In March, the Louisville Orchestra reached a three-year contract agreement with its musicians to freeze their wages for two years. The orchestra also had a major restructuring of its board earlier this year…. Violinist Kim Tichenor, who is also chair of the players’ negotiating committee that works with management, said the musicians are ‘pleased with the decision.’ … Charles Berginc, Phoenix Symphony principal trumpet player and the musicians’ chair for that orchestra, credited Kipe as playing a fundamental role in building a healthy relationship between the board, management, and musicians in Phoenix.”
Posted October 15, 2013
