LA Phil Exec Heads to Aspen

The Aspen Music Festival and School has found a worthy successor to its outgoing President and CEO Alan Fletcher. Meghan Umber, a two-decade Los Angeles Philharmonic staffer and its current chief programming officer and Hollywood Bowl president, will step into the role as of October 1, as Fletcher moves to Emeritus. Umber will, no surprise, be the first woman helm the 77-year-old educational/presenting organization and her title carries the name of Aspen’s Board Chair, Alexandra Munroe.

Apart from overseeing programming for more than 300 events annually in the combined Hollywood Bowl, Ford Theater, and Walt Disney Concert Hall, Umber has managed the Dudamel Fellowship Conducting Program for 17 seasons, led the orchestra’s commissioning projects with Creative Chair John Adams, and been deeply involved in recent artistic staff appointments: Daniel Harding as music director, Esa-Pekka Salonen as creative director, Anna Handler as conductor-in-residence, and Gustavo Dudamel as artistic and cultural laureate.

Umber’s programming highlights include the LA Phil’s Coachella debut; the release of Revolución Diamantina, its three-time Grammy-winning album of music by Mexican composer Gabriela Ortiz; a two-year John Williams spotlight; productions of Das Rheingold and Die Walküre, with sets by Frank Gehry; and Jesus Christ Superstar at the Hollywood Bowl.

Aspen Festival Music Director Robert Spano expressed his excitement with the appointment, calling Umber “accomplished, respected, creative, collaborative, and committed…. Our conversations with her in the process of seeking Alan’s successor have been exhilarating and inspire great confidence…. Especially gratifying is her keen interest in all aspects of the AMFS and its unique blending of presentation and education, a tradition fundamental to our identity.”

At Aspen, Umber is to complete a major fund-raising campaign to increase scholarships and expand sorely needed housing. Fletcher, in his 20-year reign, is credited with raising the $80M to redevelop the 38-acre Bucksbaum Campus; launching the Aspen Opera Theater and VocalARTS program under Renêée Fleming and Patrick Summers; appointing Spano as music director (Spano will stay on through 2030); hiring and firing staff and faculty; and increasing local community and education connections. On his watch, AMFS grew its budget from $14 million to $23 million and its endowment from $43 million to $115 million.

A native of Minnesota, Umber earned her music degree from USC’s Thornton School of Music and spent her summers as a pianist at Interlochen Arts Camp. She is a cross-country skier and an Ironman triathlete,