California’s Music Academy Announces New President and CEO

Shauna Quill, the current executive director of the New York Youth Symphony, will assume the role as of November 1, 2023

The Music Academy of the West (Music Academy) has appointed Shauna Quill to its position of president and CEO. She will succeed Scott Reed, who served in the role for 12 years.

Following a competitive search process involving over 50 qualified applicants, Quill was selected unanimously for the position by the organization’s board, faculty and administration.

Joining the New York Youth Symphony (NYYS) as executive director in 2011, Quill witnessed the group’s Grammy Award for Best Orchestral Performance for its first professional recording, and oversaw the NYYS international touring program. 

Additionally, she has been part of launching, expanding, and developing several new programs at NYYS, including the Musical Theater Songwriting and the Crescendo orchestral program for NYC students ages 10-18. 

Quill has built community partnerships and fellowships for NYYS with Interlochen Center for the Arts, Harmony Program, Harlem School of the Arts, and Orchestra of St. Luke’s, plus raised the group’s national profile with performances on CBS Sunday Morning, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, and CNN. 

Trained as a flutist, Quill has also served as executive director of the University of Chicago Presents and held senior leadership positions at the Aspen Music Festival and School, La Jolla Music Society, and New York’s Herbert Breslin Agency.

Quill’s mentors have included NancyBell Coe at the Aspen Music Festival and School. Coe preceded Scott Reed in the same role.

“I am thrilled and honored to have been chosen to lead the Music Academy into its next era. I am grateful for the support of the board, faculty and staff with whom I met during this process,” Quill expressed. “Their passion for the arts and arts education perfectly matches my experience in uplifting artists throughout my career. The Music Academy offers transformational opportunities for its fellows and alumni and I cannot wait to further explore the possibilities ahead." 

“The symmetry of having an opportunity to build on the manifold achievements of NancyBell, Scott and the MA community is an aspect of the new post I find particularly gratifying,” she explained.

“We very much look forward to working together to bring [Quill’s] vision for young musicians to a new era of the Music Academy, building on her brilliant track record of success,” said chairman of the Music Academy board of directors and head of the search committee, Maurice Singer.

“Shauna Quill is a charismatic and compelling force in the world of music education. Her vast experience and great success working with young aspiring musicians speaks for itself,” added Music Academy faculty member, Glenn Dicterow. “Indeed, her reputation as one of the top arts administrators in our country, plus her ten-year history at the helm of [NYYS], is extremely impressive. On behalf of the faculty, we very much look forward to welcoming Shauna Quill into our Music Academy family.”

Inaugurated in 1947, the Music Academy’s programs comprise the free Sing! children’s choir; the annual eight-week Summer School and Festival, which trains up to 140 fellows aged 18 to 34 and presents over 120 performances and competitions; the Music Academy Exchange partnership with the London Symphony Orchestra; the Innovation Institute’s Alumni Enterprise Awards; and the Mariposa Series of concerts by Academy-affiliated artists. 

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