Vanessa Reed to leave New Music USA to become Chief Executive of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Society (UK)
Vanessa Reed, credit: Ruth Kilpatrick
New Music USA announces today that President & CEO Vanessa Reed will leave the organization to become the first woman appointed as Chief Executive of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic in the UK, one of the country’s leading music organizations with a mission to transform lives through music. The organization includes the award-winning Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and associated ensembles and choirs, a substantial music learning and talent development program, and Liverpool Philharmonic Hall. Reed’s last day at New Music USA will be May 2, 2025. A national search for her replacement will be announced in the coming weeks.
Vanessa Reed joined New Music USA in August 2019 after a decade of leading the PRS Foundation, the UK’s leading funder of new music and talent development. During her time at New Music USA, Reed launched an array of new initiatives that have expanded the organization’s scope, addressed inequities in the field, built community, and demonstrated New Music USA’s ability to change in response to the community’s needs.
A hallmark of Reed’s leadership of New Music USA has been her passion for collaborating with leading artists in the field to create new programs and initiatives. Seven months into her tenure, Reed led the organization’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic by working with a team of major artists and composers, including flutist Claire Chase and composer Marcos Balter, to deliver the New Music Solidarity Fund, which provided $500,000 of emergency grant funding to 1,100 artists in need.
She worked closely with NEA Jazz Master Terri Lyne Carrington and the Berklee Institute of Jazz and Gender Justice to launch Next Jazz Legacy to expand opportunities for the next generation of diverse improvisers in jazz, raising $2.5 million from the Mellon Foundation to bring this program to life. Additional notable artist collaborators include composer Christophe Beck for New Music USA and SESAC’s Reel Change: Fund for Diversity in Film Scoring and conductor Marin Alsop for Ravinia’s Breaking Barriers Festival.
Other throughlines of Vanessa Reed’s tenure include her passion for expanding New Music USA’s national reach and her awareness of sector-wide challenges. Amplifying Voices has encouraged over 45 orchestras nationwide and abroad to co-commission pieces by composers who are historically underrepresented in the field, guaranteeing them multiple performances of their orchestral works. The New Music Creator Fund was devised to address the lack of small grant opportunities available to individual artists. New Music Inc has deepened New Music USA’s support of small, artist-led organizations in Baltimore, Chicago, New York – and will soon debut in Los Angeles – leveraging local support for mentorship, cohort learning, and capacity building for organizations that are driving innovation in the field.
All this work towards a thriving and equitable music ecosystem has been underpinned by Reed’s belief in supporting new music in all its forms and the importance of building community and belonging among creators, practitioners, donors, partners, and audience members. She is leaving New Music USA in a strong position, with multi-year funding in place for the organization’s exciting next chapter.
Joe Walker, Chair of New Music USA’s Board of Directors, has released the following statement regarding the announcement:
“Vanessa’s leadership of New Music USA has been exemplary. She has raised the profile of our organization across the US, refreshed our vision and priorities, increased our resources for artists, and enabled us to build a bi-coastal board. All of us at New Music USA admire her energy and determination. We wish her the best in her new role.”
Reena Esmail, composer and New Music USA’s Artist Char Emeritus, adds:
“I am so inspired by Vanessa’s passionate advocacy for composers. In her time at the helm, New Music USA has expanded its funding programs to include jazz and film music, and to connect composers from these genres to one another, both nationally and through city-specific events and programs. In her five and a half years of incredible leadership, she has made our musical community richer and more interconnected.”
Vanessa Reed says:
“Leading New Music USA for the past five and half years has been one of the most fulfilling and stimulating experiences of my life. I have been inspired by the dedication, passion, and creativity of everyone involved in our dynamic music community – from our board, staff, councils, and advisors, to the extraordinary creators, performers, and leaders I’ve had the honor to support. My commitment to New Music USA is based on my longstanding belief in the critical role that specialist resources like this play in the wider arts ecology. I look forward to following the next chapter of this important organization and I am extremely grateful to everyone I’ve worked with for their trust, and for all the music they’ve enabled me to discover.”
Read the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic’s announcement of Vanessa Reed’s appointment here.
About New Music USA
New Music USA is a national non-profit organization dedicated to advancing new music in all its forms. Our mission is to nurture a vibrant and inclusive community for artists and listeners by supporting the creation, performance, and appreciation of new music throughout the United States. Through responsive grant-making; skill-building; mentorship and convenings for creators from all backgrounds; and platforms designed to connect music-makers with organizations and their audiences, New Music USA works to ensure a thriving, connected, and equitable ecosystem for the music of our time. newmusicusa.org
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