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Dr. Ayden Adler serves as Associate Professor of Arts Administration at the University of Houston-Downtown (UHD) where she also teaches in the M.A. in Nonprofit Management program and the M.A. in Strategic Communications program. With degrees from Princeton University (A.B.), the Juilliard School (M.M.), and the Eastman School of Music (M.A., D.M.A., Ph.D.), her professional background and experience encompasses music performance, scholarship, teaching, and administrative positions at some of the nation’s most esteemed cultural institutions and universities. As a nonprofit consultant and executive coach, her clients include small and large nonprofit cultural organizations as well as individual administrators, board members, artists, academics, and entrepreneurs. Dr. Adler is a Chief Executive Global Fellow of National Arts Strategies and a former research affiliate of the Strategic National Arts Alumni Project. She has served as an accreditor for the National Association of Schools of Music, as a director on the board of the College Music Society, and a member of the international arts advisory board for the Chumir Foundation. She currently serves on the board of the Star Spangled Music Foundation, on the Board Development Committee for the Association of Arts Administration Educators, and volunteers as a member (by audition) of the Houston Symphony Chorus.

Dr. Adler’s vision is to sustain the arts through robust inclusivity and diversity, superlative artistry, and innovative approaches to audience engagement and retention. This is reflected in her work at UHD as a Fellow of the Center for Critical Race Studies and as Director of the Cultural Engagement Center. As a frequent speaker and panelist, Dr. Adler regularly gives presentations at national and international arts and culture forums that address issues of civic and economic relevance, power and privilege, board governance, higher education, leadership, and new technologies. Her academic research focuses on the history of orchestral institutions and the role of arts and culture in society. Her current book project, Orchestrating Whiteness: Serge Koussevitzky, Arthur Fiedler, and the Boston Symphony Orchestra, under contract with the University of Illinois Press, addresses the historical roots of systemic racism in classical music in the United States.

As Dean of the School of Music at DePauw University, Dr. Adler lead the groundbreaking 21^st-Century Musician Initiative (21CM), which reimagined approaches to 21^st-century music education in order to graduate flexible, entrepreneurial professionals prepared to serve as globally aware artist-citizens. Dr. Adler also secured $10M for scholarships beginning with the class of 2021; commissioned a new opera, The Last Dream of Frida and Diego, composed by Gabriela Lena Frank, with libretto by Nilo Cruz, in partnership with the Fort Worth Opera, San Diego Opera, and UT Austin; and secured Yo-Yo Ma for a performance with the Civic Orchestra of Chicago at DePauw.

In her previous role as Dean of the Conservatory at New World Symphony, America’s Orchestral Academy, Dr. Adler redesigned the academic program to address 21^st-century needs of music students by providing high-level training in audience engagement, community engagement, and digital engagement; as well as musician health and wellness, entrepreneurship, and leadership development. With renowned conductor, Michael Tilson Thomas, she oversaw the creation of the Global Audition Training Programme and NWS CONNECT, as well as New World Symphony’s multi-million-dollar digital arm, MUSAIC.

Before working in higher education administration, Dr. Adler served as Executive Director of the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra in New York City. As the public face of this fiercely democratic organization where musicians work collaboratively to make artistic decisions, she provided direction and leadership towards the achievement of Orpheus’ artistic and administrative goals. During her tenure, she raised over $9M through individual, corporate, foundation, and government gifts and grants. With support from the Mellon Foundation, she expanded the Orpheus Institute, through which Orpheus musicians mentor the next generation of musicians and business leaders in shared leadership, entrepreneurship, and communication. Previously, Dr. Adler led the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra’s Talent Development Program™, and as Director of Education and Community Partnerships for the Philadelphia Orchestra, conceived and created the Billy Joel Fund for Music Education, eZSeatU, and LiveNote®.

As an orchestral musician, Dr. Adler performed in many countries under esteemed conductors, including Loren Maazel, Mstislav Rostropovich, and Alan Gilbert. She served as a member of the horn sections of the Jerusalem Symphony and the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra for over a decade. While performing in the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, Dr. Adler taught horn, natural horn, music history, and arts leadership at the Eastman School of Music. As a chamber musician, she performed with Christoph Eschenbach, Ricardo Morales, Klaus Thunemann, and Mark Inouye, among others. She has recorded for the Harmonia Mundi label and is a voting member of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (Grammy Awards).

Ph.D., Musicology, Eastman School of Music, University of Rochester
D.M.A. (Doctorate of Musical Arts), Performance and Literature (Horn and ​Natural Horn) with Honors, Eastman School of Music, University of Rochester​
M.A., Musicology, Eastman School of Music, University of Rochester
M.M., French Horn, The Juilliard School ​
A.B., Princeton University, Comparative Religion with a Certificate in Music​

Additional Training and Certifications

• American Council on Education, National Women’s Leadership Forum
• Harvard Business School, Chief Executive Program: “The New Nature of Relevance”
• International Coaching​ Federation, ACC level certification
• University of Michigan Ross School of Business, Chief Executive Program: “Leadership and Convergence: Navigating Radical Change”
• University of Texas RGK Center for Philanthropy and Community Service, Chief Executive Program: “Sustainability in the Cultural Sector”

Recent Publications

Recent Publications, Scholarly Papers, and Panel Presentations

Forthcoming:

• Orchestrating Whiteness: Arthur Fiedler, Serge Koussevitzky, and the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Under contract with University of Illinois Press. Abstract: This book looks at the repertory of the Boston Symphony Orchestra through the artistic agendas of its two conductors during the 1930s and 40s, Serge Koussevitzky and Arthur Fiedler, and shows how the repertories programmed by the two conductors grew further and further apart during this time period in response to changing demographics and cultural mores. While Koussevitzky championed the aesthetics of a pure, non-referential (or “absolute”), sacralized canon—the aesthetic most commonly associated with classical music today—Fiedler programmed orchestral works with overt ethnic markers, jazz references, and other “popular” music influences. My work examines the musical choices of the two conductors through the changing lenses of race, ethnicity, class, and commercialism at the time and through the efforts to define American identity after World War II. While acknowledging the pros and cons of both Fiedler’s and Koussevitzky’s agendas, this book takes a hard look at the racial assumptions that underlie conventions still commonly found in the classical music world today, such as the distinction between “lowbrow” and “highbrow” and addresses the historical roots of systemic racism in classical music in the United States.
• “Qualities of High Engagement for Student Online Discussion Forums,” with co-investigators Lea Campbell, Ph.D., Edmund Cueva, Ph.D., Bridget Mueller, M.A., and Mikayel Yegiyan, M.S. IRB approval awarded December 2023, research to commence in spring 2024
• “Separate Repertories, Dueling Aesthetics: Using Archival Research to Share the Cultural Impact of the Boston Symphony Orchestra,” Music Library Association Annual Conference, 2025

“Odd Angles and Trick Floors: A Closer Look at the Horn Trios of Johannes Brahms and György Ligeti,” Historic Brass Society Journal 35, no. 1 (May 2024): 59-86.

“The Boston Pops and the Business of Music,” Mitchell Memorial Library Conference, Charles H. Templeton Sr. Ragtime and Jazz Festival, Mississippi State University, 2024

“The Boston Pops: An American Institution and Its European Roots.” Journal of Musicological Research 42, no. 2 (2023): 1-37.

“Leadership for Inclusion, Diversity, and Belonging as Driving Influences in Innovative Music Department Organization,” College Music Society National Conference, Miami, FL, 2023

“The Classical Ideal and the Repertory of the Boston Symphony Orchestra,” American Musicological Society New England Chapter Conference, 2023

“Jews and Whiteness: Researching the Boston Symphony Orchestra, 1930-1950,” panelist for research session titled, “Musical Whiteness and the Researcher’s Racial Positionality,” American Musicological Society and Society for Ethnomusicology National Conference, New Orleans, LA, 2022

“From Boléro to The Carioca: Influences of the Iberian World at the Boston Pops, 1930-1950,” College Music Society National Conference, Long Beach, CA, 2022

“Classical Music in Contemporary Media: The Boston Pops,” University of Gothenburg International Conference, Gothenburg, Sweden, 2022

“Global Community Engagement Between the New World Symphony and Iberacademy in Medellin,” International Conference of The College Music Society, Bogotá and Medellín, Colombia, 2022 (paper accepted but conference cancelled due to COVID-19)

“Structural Racism in Classical Music,” College Music Society National Conference, Rochester, NY, 2021

“Orchestrating Whiteness: Race at the Boston Symphony Orchestra,” Society for American Music National Conference, 2021

“‘Made in Germany’: Ethnicity, Race, and Conceptions of Musical Value at the Boston Symphony Orchestra,” German Studies Association National Conference, Portland, OR, 2019

“Rethinking Conservatory-Derived Assumptions about the Education of Diverse Career-Aspiring Musicians,” College Music Society National Conference, Vancouver, Canada, 2018

“The Critical Response to Profitable Concerts: Arthur Fiedler and the Boston Pops Orchestra, 1930-1950,” American Musicological Society Midwest Chapter Conference, Chicago, IL, 2017

“Inclusion, Access, Relevance: Addressing 21^st-Century Higher Education Challenges through Shared Governance,” Panelist, College Music Society National Conference, San Antonio, TX, 2017

“The Critical Response to Profitable Concerts: Arthur Fiedler and the Boston Pops Orchestra, 1930-1950,” Music and the Middlebrow, University of Notre Dame, London, England, 2017

“Creating and Sustaining Global Online Communities and Partnerships,” Classical:NEXT Conference, Rotterdam, the Netherlands, 2015

“Creating Global Partnerships Using Internet2,” Internet2 Global Summit, Washington, DC, 2015

Recent Invited Talks

UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON-DOWNTOWN, Houston, TX, “How the Quality Matters Rubric Supports the Inclusive Classroom”                                                                                                      2023

UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON, Houston, TX, “Strategic Planning for Arts Entrepreneurship”             2023

UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON-DOWNTOWN, Houston, TX, “Best Practices in Inclusive Pedagogy for Online Asynchronous Courses: Syllabus Creation and Discussion Forum Design”                            2022

UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON-DOWNTOWN, Houston, TX, Communication Studies Speaker Event, “Can’t We All Just Get Along? Being Jewish in Houston”                                                                 2022

DEPAUW UNIVERSITY, Greencastle, IN, “The Boston Pops: History and Repertory”                       2021

HONG KONG UNIVERSITY, Hong Kong, “Orchestrating Whiteness: Arthur Fiedler, Serge Koussevitzky, and the Boston Symphony Orchestra”                                                     2019

CHINESE UNIVERSITY OF HONG KONG, Hong Kong, “Orchestrating Whiteness: Arthur Fiedler, Serge Koussevitzky, and the Boston Symphony Orchestra”                               2019

HONG KONG BAPTIST UNIVERSITY, Hong Kong, “Orchestrating Whiteness: Arthur Fiedler, Serge Koussevitzky, and the Boston Symphony Orchestra”                               2019

HONG KONG UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, Hong Kong, “Creativity, Innovation, and Technology in 21st-Century Arts Education”                                 2019

SUNWAY UNIVERSITY, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, “Creativity, Innovation, and Technology in 21st-Century Arts Education” and “Orchestrating Whiteness: Arthur Fiedler, Serge Koussevitzky, and the Boston Symphony Orchestra”                                                     2019

HONG KONG ARTS ADMINISTRATORS ASSOCIATION, Hong Kong, “Creativity, Innovation, and Technology in 21st-Century Arts Education”                                                  2019

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, LOS ANGELES (UCLA), Los Angeles, CA, “Song of Ourselves: UCLA’s Celebration of Diversity,” sponsored by the Herb Alpert School of Music and the Ralph J. Bunche Center for African American Studies                                                                            2018

VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY, Nashville, TN, “Classical Music and the Arts Today”                           2017

FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY, Tallahassee, FL, Entrepreneurship Residency                                 2016

• Lecture 1: “‘Classical Music for People Who Hate Classical Music’: A Historical Look at Entrepreneurship and Audience Engagement”
• Lecture 2: “Creativity and Empowerment for 21st-Century Musicians”
• Practicum: “Developing Innovative Models of Audience Engagement and Entrepreneurship”

BRIGHAM YOUNG UNIVERSITY, Provo, UT, “Envisioning the Future of Classical Music and the Arts”                                                                                                                      2016

UNIVERSITY OF ROCHESTER, Rochester, NY, “‘Classical Music for People Who Hate Classical Music’: Arthur Fiedler and the Boston Pops,” Institute for Popular Music Lecture Series                        2015

STETSON UNIVERSITY, DeLand, FL, “A New Paradigm of Empowerment for 21st-Century Artists”                                                                                                           2015

ROOSEVELT UNIVERSITY, Chicago, IL, “Envisioning the Future of Classical Music”                      2015

NETWORK OF MUSIC CAREER DEVELOPMENT OFFICERS, New York, NY, “Embedding Entrepreneurship across the Institution,” National Conference                                                                 2015

Media Coverage

Social Media

Country Focus

United States

Expertise by Geography

United States, Western Europe

Expertise by Chronology

19th century, Early Modern, Modern, 20th century, 21st century

Expertise by Topic

Art & Architectural History, Museums, Race