Contact: Michael Kosmala
Vice President, Marketing & Community Engagement
503-416-6344
July 26, 2007
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Portland, Ore. … Elaine Calder has been appointed President of the Oregon Symphony Association. She has been working with the Oregon Symphony as a strategic planning consultant for the past several months, and will assume her new responsibilities immediately. She replaces Interim President Mary Crist, who will resume her previous position as Vice President & General Manager.
Board Chair Walter Weyler said, “When we conducted a search last summer for our new president, we considered more than 40 candidates. The search committee unanimously recommended Elaine Calder. It has taken ten months for her to fulfill obligations to her previous employer, the Edmonton Symphony, and to obtain the visa necessary for her as a Canadian citizen to accept full-time employment in the U.S.”
Weyler added, “During that time she has provided us with invaluable assistance as a consultant engaged in analysis and business planning. She has the confidence of the board, administration and orchestra, and we look forward to working with her in her new capacity. The challenges are enormous, but we know we have found the right individual to lead the Oregon Symphony over the next several years.”
Calder is one of Canada’s most experienced arts executives, with more than 20 years’ experience managing major institutions including the National Arts Centre in Ottawa, the Canadian Opera Company, the Shaw Festival in Niagara-on-the-Lake and most recently, the Edmonton Symphony and Francis Winspear Centre for Music in Edmonton, Alberta. Her previous experience also includes two years managing Hartford Stage in Connecticut. She has worked with a number of well-known artistic leaders including theatre directors Martha Henry, Christopher Newton and Michael Wilson, and conductors Richard Bradshaw, William Eddins and Pinchas Zukerman.
Calder said, “I’m grateful to the board, staff and musicians for their willingness to wait this long for me to begin working as their new President. And I’m pleased to be working with Mary Crist, whose experienced leadership has had such a strong and positive impact on the 2006-07 season.”
She added, “Carlos Kalmar and the musicians of the Oregon Symphony make splendid music together, and this orchestra performs at the very highest level. My job is to work with the board, staff, volunteers and community leaders to ensure that we sustain them at this same level of excellence. It’s no secret that the organization is facing some major financial challenges and we must address the difficulties quickly, in a way that preserves the best of what we do and strengthens our ties to our community.”
Calder was born in London, England and educated in England and Canada. She holds an undergraduate degree in fine art from McGill University in Montreal, and an MBA from the Richard Ivey School of Business at the University of Western Ontario, where she taught marketing for two years in the mid ’80s.
She is married to retired attorney William Bennett and has one daughter, Allegra Calder, a vice president with Washington Mutual in Seattle. Calder and her husband will move from Edmonton and make their home in downtown Portland.