ASPEN MUSIC FESTIVAL AND SCHOOL
NAMES MEGHAN UMBER
MUNROE PRESIDENT AND CEO

Umber joins from the LA Phil. She will be the seventh executive leader of the AMFS in its 77-year history and the first woman in the position.

She follows the transformational leadership of Alan Fletcher, who after 21 years will transition to the position of president emeritus.

ASPEN, CO — The Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Aspen Music Festival and School, Alexandra Munroe, announced today that Meghan Martineau Umber will be the seventh president and CEO of the Aspen Music Festival and School. Umber joins from the LA Phil where she currently serves as president, Hollywood Bowl and chief programming officer. She will move to Aspen with her family in the fall and begin as Munroe President and CEO on October 1, 2026.

Umber was chosen after an extensive search process conducted by a 13-member Search Committee that was led by Board Chair Alexandra Munroe and composed of the music director, trustees, faculty and senior staff members. A pianist with a music degree from the Thornton School of Music at University of Southern California, Umber has provided strategic leadership at the LA Phil, guiding programming and media initiatives across all LA Phil venues. In her two decades with the organization, she led the curation and design of its signature orchestral presentations, festivals and projects at Walt Disney Concert Hall and Hollywood Bowl, in close partnership with Music and Artistic Director Gustavo Dudamel. She co-created and executed some of the field’s most innovative and influential productions, working especially closely with Dudamel, Creative Director Esa-Pekka Salonen and Disney Hall’s architect Frank Gehry. A dedicated champion of emerging talent, she also managed the Dudamel Fellowship Conducting Program for seventeen seasons, establishing it as one of the field’s premier training grounds for conductors.

“The Aspen Music Festival and School is a unique organization that sits at the intersection of the world’s leading orchestras, opera companies and conservatories, giving it an unparallelled vantage point from which to present phenomenal artistic projects as well as imagine and nurture the vitality of classical music for our age,” says Munroe.

“Meghan emerged as the resounding choice because of her exceptional leadership, her deep commitment to artistic excellence and education and her ability to connect our mission to the broader world. Inspired by her deep love of music, she has forged impactful collaborations with musicians and artistic leaders, championed innovative approaches to audience and community engagement and embraced new technologies to expand music’s reach across society. With Meghan at the helm as CEO, Aspen is poised to build on its remarkable legacy as a thought leader in the arts, advancing the belief that creativity can strengthen communities, deepen understanding and help create a more connected and compassionate world.”

Says AMFS Wall Family Music Director Robert Spano, “We are tremendously excited to welcome someone so accomplished, respected, creative, collaborative and committed as Meghan to the executive role at the AMFS. Our conversations with her in the process of seeking Alan’s successor have been exhilarating and inspire great confidence in Aspen’s future with Meghan in a leadership role. Especially gratifying is her keen interest in all aspects of the AMFS and its unique blending of presentation and education, a tradition fundamental to our identity.”

Umber steps into her role at a moment of strength for the institution and will steward its ongoing superlative artistic and educational work, as well as initiatives that will strengthen the organization, sustain vibrancy, deepen a commitment to excellence and access, nurture young artists and provide imaginative leadership for the field. She will take charge of completing a major campaign to increase financial aid and unrestricted net assets, including raising capital to expand housing.

Says Umber, “It is an honor to join the Aspen Music Festival and School, an organization renowned for providing transformative musical experiences for students and audiences alike in this exceptional setting. I also wish to acknowledge and congratulate Alan Fletcher for an extraordinary tenure and deeply impactful legacy. I am excited to collaborate with Robert Spano, the board, faculty, staff and the Aspen community to shape the next chapter of AMFS’s impact in the Roaring Fork Valley and around the world.”

Umber will build on the considerable accomplishments of Fletcher, who moves on to become president of the Advisory Board for the Arts. In his twenty-one years in Aspen, Fletcher oversaw a transformational redevelopment of the 38-acre Bucksbaum Campus into a world-class teaching and rehearsal space; the launch of the Aspen Opera Theater and VocalARTS program under the leadership of Renée Fleming and Patrick Summers; the appointment of the Wall Family Music Director Robert Spano; the creation of myriad artistic and faculty relationships ensuring international artistic quality; and a significant expansion of music programs in local schools. In his time, the organization grew from $14 million to $23 million, and the endowment grew from $43 million to $115 million. He leaves the organization in excellent artistic and financial shape, with a vibrant artistic community, sound financial footing and the resources and vision needed to successfully navigate its next phase of growth and innovation.

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ABOUT MEGHAN UMBER

Meghan Umber will join the Aspen Music Festival and School as Munroe President and CEO beginning October 1, 2026. She currently serves as the president, Hollywood Bowl and chief programming officer for the LA Phil, which presents more than 300 events each year in three venues, serves 1.7 million Angelenos and has a $210 million annual budget. In her current role, Umber provides strategic leadership across the institution, overseeing the stewardship of the Hollywood Bowl and Ford, while guiding programming and media initiatives across all LA Phil venues.

Umber brings with her a deep commitment to artistic excellence and cultivating emerging voices. She looks forward to stewarding AMFS’s celebrated summer festival, expanding its transformative learning opportunities for orchestral musicians, vocalists, composers, and conductors and strengthening connections with the Roaring Fork Valley community through music.

Over more than two decades at the LA Phil, Umber has played a central role in shaping the organization’s hallmark innovative artistic identity. She has led the curation and design of its signature orchestral presentations, festivals and projects at Walt Disney Concert Hall and Hollywood Bowl, in close partnership with Music and Artistic Director Gustavo Dudamel. Recent highlights include the LA Phil debut at Coachella; the release of triple Grammy Award-winning album “Revolución Diamantina,” featuring the music of Mexican composer Gabriela Ortiz; a landmark two-year John Williams spotlight; productions of “Rheingold” and “Walküre” with sets designed by Frank Gehry and a widely acclaimed production of “Jesus Christ Superstar” at the Hollywood Bowl. She also collaborated closely with board and orchestra leadership on a new generation of artistic appointments, including Daniel Harding as Music Director, Esa-Pekka Salonen as Creative Director, Anna Handler as Conductor-in-Residence and Dudamel as Artistic and Cultural Laureate.

A dedicated champion of emerging talent, Umber managed the Dudamel Fellowship Conducting Program for seventeen seasons, establishing it as one of the field’s premier training grounds for conductors. Alumni of the program include Elim Chan, Mirga Grazinyte-Tyla, and Rafael Payare. She also leads the renowned commissioning efforts of the LA Phil, and in partnership with Creative Chair John Adams has supported the work of composers such as Ellen Reid, Gabriella Smith, Carlos Simon and Nico Muhly. Under her leadership, the LA Phil launched the Hollywood Bowl internship program in partnership with Occidental College, offering hands-on training for aspiring arts leaders.

Umber joined the LA Phil during the inaugural Walt Disney Concert Hall season in 2003/2004 and has served in multiple roles in the institution across programming and philanthropy. Umber currently serves as a board member for the Los Angeles Children’s Chorus. She guest lectures throughout the U.S., including at University of Southern California, Music Academy of the West, Juilliard, UCLA and the League of American Orchestras.

A native of Minnesota, Umber earned her music degree from the University of Southern California Thornton School of Music and spent her formative summers as an aspiring pianist at Interlochen Arts Camp. She is a cross-country skier, Ironman triathlete and avid runner. She looks forward to moving to the Roaring Fork Valley with her husband and sharing the joy of the outdoors with her two young children.

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ABOUT THE ASPEN MUSIC FESTIVAL AND SCHOOL

The AMFS is the United States’ premier classical music center for performance and education, presenting more than 400 musical events during its eight-week summer season in Aspen. The organization draws top classical musicians from around the world for a rich combination of performances of orchestral works, opera, chamber music, recitals, contemporary music, works by new or previously unrecognized voices, popular genres, family events, and talks, competitions, and classes.

About 500 music students from 40 U.S. states and 40 countries come each summer to play in four orchestras, sing, conduct, compose and study with more than 100 artist-faculty members who come from the orchestras of Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Dallas, the Metropolitan Orchestra, and the leading conservatories and music schools like The Juilliard School, The Shepherd School of Music at Rice University, and The Colburn School. Students represent the field’s best talent; many have already begun their professional careers, and others are on the cusp.

The AMFS is deeply committed to community and many events are free, including seating outside the Music Tent on the David Karetsky Music Lawn and in the Kaye Music Garden. Regular livestreams are free anywhere in the world. The AMFS also runs music programs in-school and after-school at most schools in the Roaring Fork Valley.

Renowned alumni include violinists Joshua Bell, Sarah Chang, Midori, Gil Shaham, and Robert McDuffie; pianists Joyce Yang, Orli Shaham, Conrad Tao, Yuja Wang, and Wu Han; conductors Marin Alsop, James Conlon, Leonard Slatkin and Joshua Weilerstein; composers William Bolcom, Philip Glass, David Lang, Augusta Read Thomas, Bright Sheng and Joan Tower; vocalists Isabel Leonard, Jamie Barton, Sasha Cooke, Danielle de Niese, Renée Fleming, Dawn Upshaw and Tamara Wilson; cellist Alisa Weilerstein; guitarist Sharon Isbin; bassist Edgar Meyer; and former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

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PRESS CONTACT: Laura E. Smith
Vice President for Marketing and Communications
970-618-9321
LSmith@aspenmusic.org

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MORE INFORMATION

The AMFS’s 2026 summer season will run July 1 to August 23, 2026. The box office can be reached at 970-925-9042, and the administrative office can be reached at 970-925-3254.
The Aspen Music Festival is located at 225 Music School Road, Aspen, CO 81611.
www.aspenmusicfestival.com | info@aspenmusic.org.
Further photos available upon request: JMoore@aspenmusic.org.