November 21,2008

CSO Names New President Trey Devey to Start January 20, 2009

Cincinnati — Trey Devey has been named President of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, effective January 20, 2009. Devey, 37, a consultant with The Boston Consulting Group, will also be the Executive Director of the Cincinnati May Festival.

“Trey is an analytical problem solver who will bring a new passion and energy to the CSO,” said CSO Board Chairman Marvin Quin. “Trey’s impressive skills combined with the CSO’s world class artistry will allow him to take what we have here and develop what could be the model for the future of orchestras.”

The incoming CSO President will be charged with continuing to operate the CSO, with total revenues of $34 million, in a profitable and sustainable way that brings value to the Greater Cincinnati community. Devey will provide visionary leadership to the complex arts organization and will work in close collaboration with the CSO Board of Directors and Music Director Paavo Järvi and Pops Conductor Erich Kunzel. A key quality of this new President is that he is externally focused on building community relationships. The CSO President also serves as the Executive Director of the May Festival, a dual role established in the 1960s.

“I have always held the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra in high esteem and first came to know it through the high quality recordings,” said incoming CSO President Trey Devey. “Attending concerts at Music Hall in the recent months has been remarkable. Listening to this world-class orchestra inspires me — and I know it inspires others. I can’t wait to get started and to engage more people with this exceptional organization.”
 
Devey’s background includes experience in strategic assessment, organizational restructuring, financial planning and fundraising. The past president and executive director of both the Syracuse Symphony Orchestra and the Florida Philharmonic Orchestra, Devey has a track record of delivering strong operational results and exercising sound judgment on financial and management issues. He also worked in the Development departments of the Syracuse Symphony Orchestra and Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra and in the Production department at Lake Forest Symphony Orchestra. As an American Symphony Orchestra League Orchestra Management Fellow, he completed assignments at the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and the New York Philharmonic. His wide range of experience across orchestra management functions made him an appealing candidate for the CSO.

“For more than four decades the May Festival has benefited from its close relationship with the CSO,” said Tim Stautberg, president of the May Festival Board of Trustees. “Trey Devey’s thoughtful leadership will strengthen both organizations as we build on our community’s rich musical heritage.”
“I am eager to get settled in Cincinnati and at the CSO,” said Devey. “My wife Amy and my two daughters and I have felt so welcome and so at home in Cincinnati during our visits.”

Devey holds an MBA from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania where he achieved the highest honor as a Palmer Scholar, graduating in the top 5 percent of his class. He graduated summa cum laude from Northern Illinois University with a Bachelor of Music.

Devey succeeds Steven Monder who retired June 30, 2008. Monder had been at the CSO for 37 years. His long and impressive tenure saw the CSO launch the successful recording collaboration with Telarc International, the formation of the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra, the building of Riverbend Music Center and National City Pavilion, nine national television broadcasts and four Music Directors.

The CSO Search Committee was chaired by John Palmer. Committee Members include CSO Board Members Spencer Liles, Jon McCann, Melody Sawyer Richardson, Sandra Rivers, Karl Ronn, Jim Schwab, former CSO Board Member Christine Neyer and CSO Board Member Emeritus Rick Reynolds. CSO Board Chair Marvin Quin served as an Ex-officio member of the Search Committee. Community leaders serving on the Search Committee include Mitchel Livingston, Vice President for Student Affairs and Chief Diversity Officer at University of Cincinnati and James Zimmerman, retired Chairman and CEO, Macy‘s. Cincinnati Opera Artistic Director Evans Mirageas served as an advisor to the committee.

The search process was facilitated by the international firm Spencer Stuart, experts on the CEO selection process.

 “The CSO President is a coveted position, central to the arts and culture community in Cincinnati,” said Palmer. “The Search Committee did not take this lightly and worked long and hard to make its selection and to ensure that we found a community-minded individual.” 

Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra
The Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra is a dynamic ensemble of some of the world’s finest musicians. The fifth oldest symphony in the United States and the oldest orchestra in Ohio, the CSO was founded in 1895.

The Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra today, under the artistic leadership of Music Director Paavo Järvi, has an operating budget that consistently places it among America’s top 10 orchestras. The CSO is the umbrella institution that includes the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra, and through both, the orchestra has sold nearly 10 million recordings on the Telarc label. The CSO is the official orchestra of the Cincinnati May Festival and Cincinnati Opera.

 Cincinnati May Festival
Now in its 136th year, the Cincinnati May Festival, under the musical leadership of James Conlon since 1979, is the oldest continuous choral festival in the Western Hemisphere. Since the May Festival’s inception in 1873, its foundation has remained its strong commitment to, and pride in, a tradition that provides Cincinnati and the tri-state region with exquisite choral music.

The May Festival Chorus is the core artistic element of the May Festival and, since 1989, has been under the direction of Robert Porco. The May Festival Chorus is made up of 130-plus volunteer members from the tri-state area who devote countless hours to rehearsals and performances all year long. As the official chorus of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, the May Festival Chorus has been featured on numerous CSO and Pops recordings, television broadcasts and appearances at Carnegie Hall.