Gary Ginstling is an American music executive and a former President and CEO of the

New York Philharmonic The New York Philharmonic is an American symphony orchestra based in New York City. Known officially as the ''Philharmonic-Symphony Society of New York, Inc.'', and globally known as the ''New York Philharmonic Orchestra'' (NYPO) or the ''New Yo ...

. As of February 3, 2025, he will become CEO of the Houston Symphony.

Education

Ginstling holds degrees from

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

, the

Juilliard School The Juilliard School ( ) is a Private university, private performing arts music school, conservatory in New York City. Founded by Frank Damrosch as the Institute of Musical Art in 1905, the school later added dance and drama programs and became ...

and the Anderson School of Management at the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school the ...

. Commenting on his time at Juilliard to the ''New York Times'', Ginstling said: “I was singularly focused on getting a job in a great orchestra. I don’t think there was an awareness that a career in the arts was something worth considering.”

Career

Prior to joining the New York Philharmonic, Ginstling was executive director of the

National Symphony Orchestra The National Symphony Orchestra (NSO) is an American symphony orchestra based in Washington, D.C. Founded in 1930 by cellist Hans Kindler, its principal performing venue is the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. The NSO regularly ...

(NSO) in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

beginning in August 2017. While at the NSO, Ginstling developed new ways of reaching audiences, driving up ticket sales, subscriptions and donations. Before that, Ginstling was the chief executive officer of the

Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra The Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra (ISO) is a major American orchestra based in Indianapolis, Indiana. The largest performing arts organization in Indiana, the orchestra was founded in 1930 and is based at the Hilbert Circle Theatre in downtown ...

for five years where he settled a musician's strike upon arrival and increased revenue 44% and general manager of the

Cleveland Orchestra The Cleveland Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Cleveland, Ohio. Founded in 1918 by the pianist and impresario Adella Prentiss Hughes, the orchestra is one of the five American orchestras informally referred to as the " Big Five". T ...

from 2008 to 2013. Ginstling worked as director of communications and external affairs for the

San Francisco Symphony The San Francisco Symphony, founded in 1911, is an American orchestra based in San Francisco, California. Since 1980 the orchestra has been resident at the Louise M. Davies Symphony Hall in the city's Hayes Valley, San Francisco, Hayes Valley ne ...

and in 2004 he was executive director of the Berkeley Symphony where he grew attendance by more than 25%. Prior to moving into orchestra management Ginstling had a three-year role in the technology industry working as a

product marketing Product marketing is a sub-field of marketing that is responsible for crafting the messaging, go-to-market flow, and promotion of a product. Product marketing managers can also be involved in defining and sizing target markets. They collaborate w ...

manager for the

Java platform Java is a set of computer software and specifications that provides a software platform for developing application software and deploying it in a cross-platform computing environment. Java is used in a wide variety of computing platforms fr ...

Sun Microsystems Sun Microsystems, Inc., often known as Sun for short, was an American technology company that existed from 1982 to 2010 which developed and sold computers, computer components, software, and information technology services. Sun contributed sig ...

. In 1998, Ginstling was on the faculty of the

University of California at Irvine The University of California, Irvine (UCI or UC Irvine) is a public land-grant research university in Irvine, California, United States. One of the ten campuses of the University of California system, UCI offers 87 undergraduate degrees and 129 ...

's Department of Music as a lecturer in music. Ginstling spent 12 years performing as a

clarinet The clarinet is a Single-reed instrument, single-reed musical instrument in the woodwind family, with a nearly cylindrical bore (wind instruments), bore and a flared bell. Clarinets comprise a Family (musical instruments), family of instrume ...

player with the New West Symphony before moving into academia. On July 11, 2024, Ginstling resigned as CEO of the New York Philharmonic amidst controversy from its performers for labor disputes.

Other activities

Ginstling serves on boards of the

League of American Orchestras The League of American Orchestras, formerly the American Symphony Orchestra League, is a North American service organization with 700 member orchestras of all budget sizes and types, plus individual and institutional members. Based in New York Ci ...

and the Electronic Media Association.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ginstling, Gary Living people Yale University alumni American arts administrators Year of birth missing (living people) Sun Microsystems people American music industry executives Juilliard School alumni People from Livingston, New Jersey American clarinetists American marketing people American nonprofit chief executives New York Philharmonic National Symphony Orchestra Cleveland Orchestra San Francisco Symphony