The League of American Orchestras has announced that Chester Lane, senior editor of its quarterly magazine Symphony, will step down from the organization. The League’s longest-tenured staff member, Lane joined the magazine—then known as Symphony News and published bimonthly—in December 1979, when the League was headquartered in Northern Virginia. Beginning with the February/March 1980 issue, his writing has appeared in 210 successive issues of the magazine: unsigned news reports, columns, and scores of bylined features including profiles of orchestras, musical artists, and administrators, as well as articles on such topics as repertoire, programming, education, community engagement, patron relations, and League training activities and services. He was recognized with an ASCAP Deems Taylor Award in 2002 for his article “Music Close to Home: The Vital Role of Community Orchestras in America,” which appeared in Symphony’s November/December 2001 issue. Lane steps down from his position at Symphony on March 1, but will write for the magazine on a freelance basis.
In addition to Symphony—where his work over the years has involved every aspect of content planning, assignment and editing of articles, and magazine production—Lane has been a regular contributor to The Hub, the League’s daily online news service for the orchestra field.
“It’s hard to imagine the League and Symphony magazine without Chester Lane,” said League President and CEO Jesse Rosen. “He is known and admired by all our colleagues, and has been a faithful and eloquent storyteller for orchestras for more than 35 years. We look forward to celebrating his magnificent tenure with the League at our national Conference this June.”
A graduate of Harvard College with a Master of Science in Journalism from Northwestern University, Lane plans to pursue writing opportunities and personal projects in the classical music field following his departure from the League.
Posted February 28, 2017
