Henry Fogel

NH Music Festival Director Receives Award

Henry Fogel, Festival Director, received the League of American Orchestra’s Gold Baton Award at its 2009 convention. Given annually for distinguished service to America’s orchestras, the Gold Baton is the League’s highest honor and has been awarded to individuals and institutions since 1948.

Henry received the award in recognition for his dedication and lifelong commitment to orchestras – from his days of running radio station WONO, a commercial classical music station he founded in Syracuse, to his triumphant 18 year tenure as President of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra Association – he has been a tireless advocate in making the case for the value of orchestras in our communities.

Here are some excerpts from the presentation of the award, “Henry’s great love of music has been the driving passion and motivating factor of his life. An opera lover as well as a lover of orchestras, he is a regular panelist on the Metropolitan Opera radio broadcast quiz. He’s a long time record reviewer and has carefully indexed performance information about his enormous collection of recorded music, over 48,000 performances, which can be accessed by going to www.HenrysRecords.org.

Henry’s love of his wife Fran and his family is the only thing greater than his passion for music. Henry is an excellent cook of Chinese cuisine and he has introduced more musicians to more Chinese restaurants than anyone else in the western world.

Henry’s intense passion for music is at the root of everything he does. He is all about music, and through it, service to community and its quality of life. Henry’s generosity of spirit is legendary as he has been a champion of orchestras large and small, mentor to thousands and a beloved and unforgettable voice of optimism for our field and our art.”

As Festival Director, Mr. Fogel, is involved in program planning, scouting artists, hosting lectures, building industry connections and assisting in governance and institutional strategic plans.

Mr. Fogel’s past positions include Chairman of the Board of League of American Orchestras, Executive Director of the National Symphony Orchestra and Orchestra Manager of the New York Philharmonic. He is currently Dean of Roosevelt University’s College of Performing Arts in Chicago, has produced many series for WFMT Radio that have been syndicated nationally, including currently Collectors’ Corner which is derived from his extensive collection of classical recordings. He is a member of the Board of Overseers of the Curtis Institute and the Executive committee of the Avery Fisher Artist Programs and a regular panelist on the Quiz of the Metropolitan Opera international broadcasts. He was named by Business Week magazine as one of the five best managers of cultural organizations in the United States and has been cited for his outstanding contribution to and accomplishments in the field of music education.

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