Vanessa Reed has been named as the new Chief Executive of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Society, taking up the role on June 2, 2025. Under her leadership, she will head one of the UK’s most significant music establishments, which includes the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and Choir, Liverpool Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool Philharmonic Youth Company, and a broad range of learning initiatives and community programs. She will succeed Michael Eakin, who will retire from this role in March 2025 after serving for 16 years.
Vanessa Reed is an award-winning music executive with over 16 years of experience as CEO of national music organizations in the United Kingdom and the United States. She became President and CEO of New Music USA in 2019, where she introduced several new initiatives, including Amplifying Voices, which brings together more than 45 US orchestras in the co-commissioning of new works, and many jazz and film scoring programs that work to address inequities in the music industry in collaboration with some of the leading US artists. In addition, she served as an advisor to the Recording Academy’s New York Chapter.
Before moving to New York, Vanessa Reed was CEO at PRS Foundation in London, where she repositioned the Foundation as a pioneering international force and led new initiatives, showcasing her advocacy for music across various genres, including the New Music Biennial, which won the Royal Philharmonic Society’s best festival award in 2012, and the Keychange gender equity movement, which has received support from over 650 festivals and musical organizations worldwide, as well as multiple awards, including Classical Next’s Innovation Award. Between 2016 and 2019, she served as a board member of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic.
Vanessa Reed shows great appreciation for the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, stating, “I am thrilled and honoured to be the first woman appointed to the role of Chief Executive at the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic.” She admired Liverpool’s music mission that influences young people’s lives through music and pledges to ensure that the Liverpool Philharmonic continues to evolve and flourish, serving more musicians, young people, and cities through the planned “Abbey Road of the North” studios. Additionally, she reportedly wants to tap into Liverpool’s international reputation to benefit the orchestra, led by its dynamic Chief Conductor, Domingo Hindoyan. Councillor Liam Robinson, Leader of Liverpool City Council, believes that Vanessa’s appointment is fitting, saying “Michael Eakin will be a hard act to follow, but Vanessa’s credentials can only enhance the vibrancy of this much-loved organization and boost its global reputation for musical excellence.”
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