More on Simon Woods, Recently Become the Former CEO of the LA Phil

Photo: Lisa Hirsch

A few folks in the blogosphere have comments about what went down at the LA Phil this week.

• Mr. CKHD, All is Yar
• Drew McManus, Adaptistration. Another thing you don't see every day is Drew scratching his head about a major event in the field.
• Alex Ross, The Rest is Noise. Alex goes straight to the point: the problem is a bad decision on the part of the LAPO Board in hiring Woods in the first place.

Some further thoughts: a couple of friends wondered whether there was more here than meets the eye. I am sure there was nothing illegal going on; Woods has been in the business long enough that if he had any history of legally problematic behavior that it would be known, plus, the LAPD was not present at Disney this week. 

Could it have been a developing #MeToo moment? See the previous couple of sentences. One hopes he would not have been hired with a known history of harassment, but ahem see the problems across the street from WDCH.

Jumped/pushed? Especially after reading Alex's blog post, my guess is "mutual agreement," meaning "face-saving resignation after a discussion making it clear that he was leaving one way or the other."

Simon Woods Resigns from LA Phil

I know that Deborah Borda's shoes would be the biggest shoes to try to fill among orchestra CEOs, and yet....Simon Woods has stepped down from his job as CEO of the LA Philharmonic after less than two years. He is an experienced CEO who came from a successful run - as far as I know - at the Seattle Symphony.

The LA Phil had a choice of successors to Borda, including Chad Smith, COO (and now also Artistic Director of Ojai), another strong internal candidate, and presumably external candidates in addition to Woods. I remember nearly fainting with relief that they didn't hire Alison Vulgamore, who was...not successful, to my mind, at Atlanta and Philly. And speaking of Philly, who knows, maybe Matias Tarnopolsky, Vulgamore's successor after a strong run at Cal Performances, was in the running at some point.

So, one wonders what's up here: disagreements with the board? disagreements with staff? Problems of some kind? Inquiring minds, etc.

Here's the whole press release.

SIMON WOODS STEPS DOWN AS CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER OF THE LOS ANGELES PHILHARMONIC  INTERIM LEADERSHIP FROM BOARD CHAIR JAY RASULO & BOARD CHAIR DESIGNATE THOMAS L. BECKMEN

Los Angeles, September 16, 2019 - On behalf of the Los Angeles Philharmonic Association, Board Chair Jay Rasulo announced today that the Board has accepted Simon Woods' resignation from his position as Chief Executive Officer, David C. Bohnett Chief Executive Office Chair, of the Association, effective immediately. Simon Woods stated, "The Los Angeles Philharmonic is an extraordinary organization in every respect. It has been my complete honor to lead it for almost two years. However, after a great deal of reflection, I have concluded that my hopes and aspirations lie elsewhere, and as a result, I have tendered my resignation. I wish Gustavo, the musicians, the staff, the Board and everyone associated with this organization all the very best as it commences its second century." The Board very much appreciates the experience, commitment and passion that Mr. Woods has contributed to the Association since January, 2018, and wishes him all the best for the future.    In order to ensure continuity going forward, interim leadership will be led by Board Chair Jay Rasulo and Board Chair Designate Thomas L. Beckmen until a new CEO is named. Further information will be forthcoming.