HEAR FROM YOUR PEER
With Catherine Heitz New
Featuring Special Guest — Rachel Ford
Chief Executive Officer, Knoxville Symphony Orchestra
This episode features Rachel Ford, Chief Executive Officer with the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra, who has successfully built major gifts through strong portfolio-management, despite a small team.
Listen today for clear, candid guidance from people who are doing the work every day, and to highlight the strategies, habits, and decisions that are moving arts organizations forward.
Read the full transcript below or click the button to listen.
ABOUT RACHEL FORD
Rachel Ford has served as CEO of the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra since 2007 where she is responsible for overseeing organizational operations, fundraising and strategic direction for the institution. She has led the Orchestra to financial stability with 19 consecutive years of balanced budgets, successfully shepherded the organization through the COVID-19 pandemic, and led partnerships that have deepened the Symphony’s community relationships.
Previously, she served as Executive Director for the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Symphony Orchestra in Iowa, as Public Relations Coordinator for the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and in the marketing department at the University Musical Society in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Rachel is a graduate of the League of American Orchestras’ Orchestra Management Fellowship Program, having worked with the Kalamazoo, Harrisburg, Pittsburgh, Fort Worth and Syracuse symphonies. She holds a Bachelor of Music degree in Piano Performance from the University of Michigan.
Rachel is active with numerous community groups, currently serving as President of Prime Aquatics and Secretary of Tennesseans for the Arts. She is a member of the Board of Directors of The Joy of Music School, serves as President-Elect of the Rotary Club of Knoxville, and is a member of the Executive Women’s Association. She is a 2013 graduate of Leadership Knoxville and a recipient of a YWCA Tribute to Women award.