Exclusive: A rush for the exits at shaky LA Phil
OrchestrasAttempts by interim CEO Daniel Song to stabilise the rocky LA Phil team have only set the designer doors swinging even more wildly.
Overnight, we hear that two senior members of the in-house PR team resigned of their own volition. A third PR coordinator has also quit.
Here’s the internal communication:
Senior Marketing team,
I’m writing with some updates from the PR team. Today (Director of Public Relations) Sophie (Jefferies) has shared that after 14 years, this 2023 Bowl season will be her last with the LA Phil as she looks to write the next chapter of her career. Sophie plans to continue supporting PR for our Bowl performances through the end of the season. I am passing along a note from Sophie to the LA Phil team, pasted at the end of this email.
Publicist Holly Wallace has also accepted another position with a local philanthropic organization, and it’s an exciting opportunity for her to apply her skills beyond public relations. Holly’s last day will be August 25.
With the continued support of our longtime PR agency partners, Polskin, as well as our other contract and agency publicists, we are focused on ensuring continued coverage for our coming WDCH 23-24 season and all other needs beyond the current Bowl season. Nora and I will continue sharing updates as we build our Public Relations function and look to structure the team in a way that best supports our work and the LA Phil’s strategic priorities.
Please join me in thanking Sophie for her contributions and years of service, and in wishing both Holly and Sophie our best for their next adventures!
Thank you,
Anna
Dear Colleagues,
It is with both sadness and excitement that I have decided the 2023 Hollywood Bowl season will be my last with the LA Phil. A recent, personal loss taught me that life is short and has inspired me to look for a new challenge in my life and expand my horizons. The last 14 years at the LA Phil has given me countless amazing career milestones and I look forward to making many more outside the organization in the years to come. I will continue at the LA Phil until November 4 to see out the remainder of the Bowl season and I will work with Nora and Anna to make sure that the transition is seamless for everyone. I also want to thank the Executive Team for their support in making this difficult decision.
Thanks
SOPHIE
So there are in PR at the LAPhil:
*Nora
*I, Anna
*departing Holly
*departing Sophie
*PR agency Polskin
at least.
Forty years ago, when the orchestra had Giulini and a DG contract, there was one PR lady doing it all.
No doubt there are twelve people in the grant-application writing department, too, today.
And so it goes. Corporate bloat. Greatly outnumbering the musicians.
“Corporate bloat. Greatly outnumbering the musicians.”
Too many people in the corporate, non-profit and political world just naturally like to featherbed.
The economy throughout today’s post-Covid world appears to be gradually, if not quickly, contracting. So corporate-cultural-political budgets may have to shrink too.
The U.S. economy is very strong right now, with the lowest unemployment rate in over a half-century and the stock market on a roll.
That said, the performing arts world is struggling to regain the audiences and donors it lost from 2000-2022. We shall see.
Back then at the LA Phil there was Norma Flynn and Vanessa and I assumed there were some others too. The growth of the internet and social media has likely created more work/opportunities for PR.
Norma Flynn was the best. So great to reporters. A joy to work with. Miss her still.
With Giuliani they didn’t need PR!
There’s a world of difference between Giulini and Giuliani!!!
I doubt that. The main focus of PR in a place like LA, a megacity somewhat isolated from the rest of the classical world, is surely local. You don’t need PR to promote Giulini in the record-buying public in Europe, perhaps, but you do need it to sell tickets in LA, especially back then.
Plus many PR interns to handle day-to-day press requests and communications.
14 years on the job is a long time plus she talks about “a recent personal loss.” Don’t understand what this has to do with Mr. Song.
From the title and location, I thought this was about an earthquake in downtown LA!
Glad to see her go!
@Furry Fuzz – you are a horse’s ass. Sophie Jefferies has always been a consumate professional and one of the only asset in the LA Phil marketing department. She will be missed. I wish her nothing but the best in her future endeavors.
If any department should be gutted, it’s marketing. It’s terribly planned and dated, not sure what they actually do all day.
Looks like they’ve outsourced their PR to an outside organization, Crescent Communications.
Desperate times call for desperate hires….
How astonishing that in today’s world people will seize on any opportunity to say something mean. It’s morning on both coasts in America, and we will muddle through. Get a life!
Same thing in all departments at Dallas Opera. Mass exodus.