Executive Director - Portland Symphony Orchestra

Portland Symphony Orchestra (PSO) invites dynamic and enterprising leaders with a passion for music to apply for the role of Executive Director of this highly respected regional orchestra. The Executive Director will lead the entire PSO team – musicians, staff, and Board – in charting a path for continuing impact and artistic achievement as the orchestra enters its second century as a premier cultural institution within the state of Maine. Through creativity, smart planning, strategic risks, and a spirit of collaboration, the Executive Director’s purposeful approach to non-profit cultural stewardship will lead to decisive action on how to expand PSO’s reach, influence, and operational resilience. The Executive Director will shape the organization’s vision in tandem with the PSO’s Music Director, the top curator of PSO’s commitment to artistic excellence, and deepen the connective tissue between the orchestra musicians, staff, and Board. The Executive Director will optimize the PSO for success by clearly defining and acting upon goals, taking the time to craft measurable plans, and communicating effectively and often all of the PSO’s opportunities and challenges to all its constituents so that its broadening community can participate in a bright and exciting future for this legacy institution. Management Consultants for the Arts has been engaged to facilitate this search. A full position description may be found here: https://www.mcaonline.com/searches/executive-director-pso

Organizational Profile

Founded in 1924, the Portland Symphony Orchestra is widely regarded as one of the top symphony orchestras of its size in the country. As one of Maine’s largest performing arts organizations, PSO offers programs to satisfy both devoted orchestral music lovers and those new to the experience, engaging community members of all ages. The PSO’s reach is wide around the state of Maine, with the orchestra offering performances and educational opportunities in an expansive reach beyond Portland into varied communities, many of them rural with little access to top-level cultural arts. The PSO’s home base of Portland is a richly diverse and multicultural community of 70,000 people (Maine’s largest city) that is a destination for summer vacationers who enjoy the easy Atlantic shore access, an exciting food scene, and a wide variety of entertainment options year round. More information can be found on their website: https://portlandsymphony.org/

Portland Symphony Orchestra has engaged Management Consultants for the Arts to facilitate this important search; Jonathan West (Managing Director) and Shruti Adhar (Consultant) are leading the process. Interested and qualified candidates are encouraged to submit in complete confidence a cover letter, resumé, and four professional references. The cover letter of no more than 1½ pages should address how the opportunities and challenges shared in this profile intersect with the candidate’s professional background and what about this opportunity is of greatest interest to them personally. Application materials should have the applicant’s name included as part of each file name and must be submitted electronically - https://www.mcaonline.com/searches/executive-director-pso

05/23/2025