New York Philharmonic’s President and CEO Steps Down

Gary Ginstling has resigned after a year in the position, effective immediately

After a year in the role, Gary Ginstling has resigned as the New York Philharmonic’s president and CEO. The 58-year-old is the former executive director of the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington. 

Ginstling became President and CEO of the New York Philharmonic in July 2023, having spent a prior period of eight months (beginning in November 2022) as the Philharmonic’s Executive Director. He succeeded Deborah Borda, who held the role from 2017 until she stepped down last summer.

During his tenure, a $550 million renovation was completed on NY Phil’s home venue, David Geffen Hall. Additionally, attendance at the Philharmonic’s concerts was stronger than it was for other orchestras following the pandemic. In 2023, NY Phil received a $40 million gift from Oscar L. Tang and Dr. H. M. Agnes Hsu-Tang.

“The New York Philharmonic is an extraordinary institution, and it has been an honor to be a part of it,” Ginstling said in a statement released by the orchestra, The New York Times reports. “However, it has become clear to me that the institution needs a different type of leadership, and I have tendered my resignation.”

The NY Phil added that it would convene a “transition leadership team” that includes the chairmen of the board, Peter W. May and Oscar L. Tang, as well as Borda. 

In 2023, the orchestra announced Gustavo Dudamel as its music and artistic director as of the 2026/27 season. Until then, Dudamel will be serving those same roles at the Los Angeles Philharmonic, which had extended his contract in 2020.

“We have no intention of replicating what [Dudamel] did in Los Angeles,” Ginstling said in an interview, writes The NY Times. “Gustavo is a different artist than he was when he began in Los Angeles. And we just look forward to imagining a future with Gustavo and the New York Philharmonic.”

A statement sent out by the New York Philharmonic reads, "In order to ensure continuity moving forward, a transition leadership team, including representation from the Board and staff, has been assembled. While the Board will be actively engaged in identifying a new President and CEO, the transition team will be led by the Board Co-Chairmen, with Deborah Borda as Executive Advisor."

Ginstling’s departure comes as the orchestra’s musicians and the administration are in discussions over a new labor contract — the current agreement expires in September 2024. Further, the orchestra’s current music director Jaap van Zweden will be ending his six-year tenure this summer; Dudamel will not succeed him until 2026, leaving the NY Phil without an official music director for the next season. 

The NY Phil most recently completed their 2024 China tour, which also marked van Zweden’s final international tour as the NY Phil’s Music Director. 

Additionally, in recent months, NY Phil players Matthew Muckey and Liang Wang were sidelined following misconduct allegations revealed in a New York Magazine article. NY Phil fired the pair in September 2018, after an independent investigation by a former federal judge. However, in 2020, the orchestra was forced to reinstate them with back pay when an arbitrator and their union decided they were “terminated without cause.”

In April 2024, Ginstling released a statement responding to the allegations of misconduct against Muckey and Wang, explaining that “the Philharmonic has engaged Katya Jestin, co-managing partner of the law firm Jenner & Block, to launch an independent investigation into the culture of the NY Phil in recent years.”

As reported in The NY Times, shortly after appointing Jestin to the case, Ginstling also authorized a separate inquiry by another lawyer Tracey Levy, to “receive and investigate allegations of sexual harassment or otherwise inappropriate conduct by musicians or other current employees of the Philharmonic.”

Muckey and Wang have since sued NY Phil by filing separate lawsuits, claiming that they were sidelined “without cause.”