50 Santa Rosa Ave., Ste. 410, Santa Rosa 95404; 707-546-7097; santarosasymphony.com
Age: mine is 60, organization is 85
Residence: Santa Rosa
Professional background: Alan Silow has been Executive Director of the Santa Rosa Symphony since July of 2002. During his tenure, the Symphony has returned to a fiscally sound basis that has produced surpluses in both operations and endowment. Mr. Silow played a leadership role in the public/private partnership with Sonoma State University to build a new world-class symphony hall that opened in Fall 2012. The Santa Rosa Symphony is now the largest California regional symphony orchestra north of Los Angeles and the resident orchestra at the world-class Green Music Center. He also currently sits on the Board of the Santa Rosa Convention & Visitors Bureau to provide better cross-cultivation between the arts and tourism.
Prior to taking this position, he concluded a successful, three-year tenure as Executive Director of ProMusica Chamber Orchestra in Columbus, Ohio. Previous positions include Director of Marketing & Public Relations for the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, a world-renowned, performing arts organization based in Santa Fe, New Mexico and Executive Director of the Santa Fe Convention & Visitors Bureau. During his tenure, readers of Conde Nast Traveler magazine named Santa Fe the top travel destination in the world.
Silow graduated Phi Beta Kappa with an undergraduate B.A. degree in Economics with Honors from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a Master’s degree in Public Administration from Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School of International and Public Affairs. He is married with one son and one yellow Labrador retriever and lives in Rincon Valley in Santa Rosa.
Staff size: 15 administrative staff and 80 musician employees
Describe your organization: The Santa Rosa Symphony was established in 1928, in a time before the Golden Gate Bridge linked Sonoma County to the cultural attractions of San Francisco. Happily, even with the bridge, we don’t have to cross it to experience great live classical music.
Currently in its 85th season, SRS draws 3,800 season subscribers, from Santa Cruz to Fort Bragg. Over 80 percent of our subscribers renew each year. With 28 subscription performances, plus special concerts, the SRS will entertain over 37,000 audience members this season.
Each year the SRS contributes over $3.7 million into the local economy, maintaining a payroll of 80-plus union musicians as well as a staff of 14 administrative employees. SRS is largest performing arts organization in the North Bay and the third largest regional orchestra in California north of Los Angeles.
In July 2006, Bruno Ferrandis began his tenure as music director and conductor of the Santa Rosa Symphony. Emotional fire, dynamic technique, masterful interpretations, humor, grace and charm only begin to describe this musical artist. He has 25 years of conducting experience with some of the world’s great opera companies, and the finest orchestras of Europe andAsia. Trained at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London as well as the Juilliard School, Ferrandis’ breadth of experience includes both standard and avant-garde repertoires, including ballet, musical theater and cinema accompanying music.
World-renowned guest soloists who have appeared with the SRS include: Yo-Yo Ma, Emanuel Ax, Sarah Chang, Hilary Hahn, Jon Kimura Parker, Andre Watts, Lang-Lang, Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg and Thomas Quasthoff.
Major community outreach projects initiated by the SRS include: Benjamin Britten’s War Requiem in 1999, Sir Michael Tippet’s A Child of Our Time in 2002 and Matalon’s Metropolis in 2008. Collaborations with schools and organizations across Sonoma County have gained SRS national attention and support including an American Symphony Orchestra League Metlife Award for Community Engagement.
SRS has received prestigious grants from the Hewlett Foundation, the Irvine Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Heller Foundation and the Community Foundation Sonoma County.
SRS is supported by a volunteer Symphony League.
SRS concerts are broadcast on Sonoma County’s KRCB radio 91.1 FM and 90.9 FM.
SRS has one of the largest education programs in the country for an organization of its size, with four performing youth orchestras and a Summer Music Academy. Over 4,000 student musicians have passed through the SRS youth ensembles since the first ensemble (the Youth Orchestra) was formed in 1959. SRS distributes thousands of dollars annually in scholarship and tuition assistance.
