After six years at the helm, James William Boyd is stepping down from his role as CEO of the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra to spend more time with his family.  Boyd will continue to serve as CEO through the end of December. Mimi Kruger, the LPO’s director of philanthropy, will serve as interim CEO while a transition committee searches for Boyd’s successor.

“It has been a privilege to be here and I am going to miss New Orleans.  There is no city like it. This is a special ensemble and I hope that the community understands that,” said Boyd.  “The musicians built this out of the ashes of the New Orleans symphony and because of their involvement, it is like no other orchestra in the country.”

Boyd’s tenure as CEO saw the LPO realize several notable achievements, for instance facilitating the orchestra’s return to Orpheum Theater for the first time since Hurricane Katrina and arranging the orchestra’s first performance at Carnegie Hall in New York City.

“I have never had a more emotional response to a concert than [opening night at the Orpheum Theater in 2015]. That was largely in response to what the audience was experiencing,” he said.  “I was not here during Katrina, so I cannot fathom what that was like for the community, but to see the responses of two packed concert halls and seeing them embrace the fact that their home was back when they had given up on the Orpheum at that point, that was very, very powerful.”

Upon his resignation, Boyd will be returning to northeast Ohio to spend more time with his wife and son.  Prior to becoming CEO in 2013, Boyd served as both the director of artistic planning and production and as the interim managing director for the LPO.  He was also an adjunct professor at the University of New Orleans during his tenure. 

“It has definitely been an exciting time for the orchestra in the past decade. They have really come into their own as an ensemble and I hope that, at least, I played some part in seeing us from, really when I arrived, which was still in the Post-Katrina recovery phase, to really an orchestra that stands on its own now and is an essential part of the community,” he said.

To learn more about the LPO or its upcoming events (including November 15’s tribute to the music of David Bowie!), visit lpomusic.com.