Eugene Symphony Association Board of Directors Announces new Executive Director
Dave Moss will begin his tenure in the position full time on January 2, 2024.
The Eugene Symphony Association (ESA) Board of Directors is excited to announce the appointment of Dave Moss as Eugene Symphony’s next Executive Director. The leadership succession is the result of a months-long, extensive global search led by a search committee consisting of Board, staff, and orchestra members, in cooperation with executive search firm Aspen Leadership Group.
“Dave has an exceptional background in fundraising, budget development and management, organizational growth and sustainability, collective bargaining, and strategic planning,” said Deb Carver, President of the ESA Board of Directors. “He is also an accomplished musician and has performed as a freelance violist with several eminent orchestras. His skills, experience, and positive vision are a perfect match for our organization at this moment in time.”
As Executive Director of Eugene Symphony, Moss will serve as the administrative lead of the organization, facilitating community and patron relationships. He will also work in close collaboration with ESA Music Director and Conductor Francesco Lecce-Chong to support ESA’s artistic direction and creative vision for the orchestra. Moss will also work alongside the Music Director Search Committee as ESA works to find Francesco’s successor.
“I am thrilled to welcome Dave Moss to the Eugene Symphony and look forward to working together to bring inspiring musical experiences to our community.”
– Francesco Lecce-Chong, ESA Music Director and Conductor
Moss served most recently as the President and CEO for the Hawai’i Symphony Orchestra (HSO), and was appointed to lead the HSO in March, 2020, as the COVID pandemic began and the orchestra faced extreme financial challenges and audience decline. He is credited with strengthening HSO’s finances, increasing both foundational and individual support, diversification of programing, developing more community-based opportunities outside the traditional concert hall setting, and most notably, helping to secure Dane Lam as the first Music Director and Conductor in the organization’s history. Moss was recently named one of Hawai’i’s Most Admired Leaders by Pacific Business News and has been recognized by Pacific Edge Magazine with their Publishers Choice Award.
“I am extremely honored to have been selected to serve as the Eugene Symphony Association’s next Executive Director,” said Dave Moss. “I am delighted to build upon the outstanding legacy of both executive and artistic leadership for your Symphony and I am eager to work with the musicians, the Association’s Board of Directors, the administration, and volunteers on achieving the long-term aspirations and strategic goals of the organization. I look forward to sharing my passion for the symphonic experience and building partnerships and community through music for Eugene.”
Moss will be moving with his family to Eugene in the coming months, starting in full-time capacity on January 2, 2024.
About Dave Moss
Acclaimed and boldly creative arts leader Dave Moss is the incoming Executive Director of the Eugene Symphony Association (ESA). Prior to his appointment in Eugene, Moss was the President and CEO of the Hawai’i Symphony Orchestra (HSO) where he worked with members of the orchestra, the Board of Directors, the administration, and volunteers to strengthen all aspects of the organization’s artistic, fiscal, governance, education activities, and community engagement. He is credited with leading the diversification of symphonic programming through his work with the Hawaiian and Pasifika communities and led the organizations launch of their digital productions, reaching over 500,000 households through streaming and regional television, and receiving an Emmy nomination. During his tenure he was named one of Hawai’i’s Most Admired Leaders by Pacific Business News. Dave was previously the Executive Director of Haymarket Opera Company, one of Chicago’s most dynamic arts organizations having garnered international acclaim for its performances during his leadership, even hailed as “finely played, carefully sung, lovingly detailed” by The New York Times. A recovering violist, Dave performed at venues from Disney Concert Hall to Carnegie Hall, Madison Square Garden to Coachella, and was equally at home performing with The Who, Kayne West, Itzhak Perlman, Renee Fleming, or in the Broadway production of Hamilton. Moss holds degrees from the University of Chicago, The Juilliard School, and Oberlin College and Conservatory of Music. He joins the Eugene, Oregon community with his wife Dr. Katherine Lynch Moss, their daughter Bridget, and an Australian Shephard Poodle, Lena Blue.
About Eugene Symphony
Now in its 59th season, Eugene Symphony is recognized as a cornerstone of the performing arts in Oregon’s southern Willamette Valley. Under the leadership of Music Director Francesco Lecce-Chong, the Eugene Symphony pursues its mission of enriching lives through the power of music by presenting annual classical, pops, and community engagement performances, regularly commissioning and premiering new American works, and disseminating its performances via radio broadcasts and recordings.
