By Philip Walzer
It still happens. An audience member applauds in between movements during a symphony performance and receives stony stares and whispers of disapproval.
That’s not right, said Andrea Warren, Ph.D. (M.S.Ed. ’93), president and CEO of the Virginia Symphony Orchestra. “It sends the impression that you’re not welcome,” she said.
The symphony is pushing a different message. Music director Eric Jacobsen slightly turns to the audience and bows in appreciation of applause, Warren said.
Inclusion and diversity rank high on her mission list.
“We’re saying to the total community, ‘We’re here for you. We’re not just for people who are wealthy,’” said Warren, who’s led the symphony since 2022.
Warren, who spent the previous 13 years as executive director of the local Governor’s School for the Arts, speaks rhapsodically about the power of attending a concert.
“To experience live music with people you don’t know and to pull away from social media– maybe it’s the first time in the whole week you have joy,” Warren said. She wants to extend that feeling to people from all backgrounds, especially children.
(Photos by Bill Tiernan)
The symphony, which performs in Newport News, Norfolk and Virginia Beach, added a free concert in Portsmouth this year in honor of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. It also provides complimentary tickets at libraries in Norfolk and Virginia Beach.
At the elementary level, the education director, Helen Martell, trains fourth- and fifth-grade teachers, who in turn prepare students for a Young People’s Concert, where they listen to and accompany the symphony’s musicians. In selected middle and high schools, the musicians offer four to six lessons a year to the most talented students.
In announcing her appointment in December 2022, the Virginia Symphony said Warren would be the “first Black woman to serve as CEO of a leading symphony orchestra in the United States and Canada.”
“It’s really sad to say any female or Black female is a first in 2022,” she said. “It also says to me, ‘Girl, failure is not an option.’”
‘I didn’t play, but I loved them.’
Andrea Warren grew up in Richmond, the daughter of a high school home economics teacher who invited students home for dinner. “Seeing how she helped kids and how they adored her pulled me into education.”
Warren worked in the Virginia Beach school system for two decades, starting as a physical education teacher and basketball and track coach. For her last five years, Warren was principal of Plaza Middle School. “Kids knew I didn’t play, but I loved them.”
“She’s the reason I’m doing what I’m doing,” Warren said.
In 2007, she earned a doctorate in educational policy and leadership from Virginia Tech. The following year, she moved to the Governor’s School for the Arts, which she knew well because her daughter, actress Adrienne Warren — best known for her work on Broadway and appearances in several television series — had gone there. As director, Warren established a downtown Norfolk location for the school, which had been scattered in buildings across the city, and increased enrollment to 350 from 266.
Warren retired at the end of 2021 with plans to help her daughter with her career. At the time, she was on the symphony’s board, which began looking for a CEO in 2022. When the search committee couldn’t come up with a finalist, one member pointed to her.
Her daughter urged her to take the job. Still, Warren wasn’t sure.
“God and I had some tough conversations,” she said. “But this is where I was driven by Him to come. I don’t do anything unless it is deeply in my heart and my spirit.”
A financial crescendo
Under her leadership, financial numbers are rising.
Revenue from ticket sales increased 25% from $1.03 million in fiscal year 2022 to $1.29 million in fiscal 2023. During that same time period, donations also rose from $3.77 million to $3.79 million. As of January, Warren said, the symphony was on track to exceed both figures for fiscal 2024.
Tim Faulkner, the board chair, said, “Warren has navigated staffing challenges well. I think we’re on a good, solid trajectory, and she has put together the right team to help us continue moving forward.”
Shannon Kelly, who joined the symphony as vice president for development in January 2023, said Warren is willing to try new things.
One of those things is a program, launched last summer, to attract under-40 patrons with special events such as a costumed wine reception on Halloween.
“You’re not going to see returns right away,” Kelly said, “but she saw value in investing in the program for its longer-term value, and she gave my staff person a lot of free rein to build it the way we thought it should be built.”
It fits with Warren’s philosophy: “You allow department heads to do what they do. You make suggestions, but you also listen to them and stay open to their ideas. You trust in people, and they do their jobs very, very well.”
Warren’s favorite composers:
Chevalier de Saint- Georges – “I’m fascinated with his story. His mother was a slave, and she was owned by his father. He became a French violinist and composer.”
Sergei Rachmaninoff – “It’s the storytelling, and I’ve been enjoying his piano concertos.”