BSO managing director Mark Volpe named Wheaton Distinguished Fellow

The Wheaton Distinguished Fellows program will bring the managing director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Mark Volpe, to visit campus on Tuesday, Nov. 13, to talk with students about careers in arts management and to discuss the renowned organization's diversity initiatives.

The Wheaton Distinguished Fellows Program pairs leaders from nearby Boston, one of the most intellectually rich cities in the world, with Wheaton faculty members to guest lecture sessions of selected courses.

Mr. Volpe will hold a roundtable discussion with students and faculty as well as talk about diversity in the Boston Symphony Orchestra with students enrolled in the course, "African American Originals I: Spirituals, Blues and All That Jazz," which is taught by Professor of Music Ann Sears.

Volpe was appointed managing director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra in September 1997. Since that time, Volpe has steered the BSO through a historic transition in music leadership: he oversaw the end of Seiji Ozawa's 29-year tenure as music director and the engaging of James Levine as his successor; led a record-breaking capital campaign, raising more than $150 million for the BSO's endowment, capital improvements and annual fund; and presided over two successful labor negotiations resulting in a four-year collective bargaining agreement with the orchestra.

Also under Mr. Volpe's management, the BSO developed its website, www.bso.org, into the largest and most visited orchestral website in the country, with close to 3 million visits each year; celebrated the centennial of Symphony Hall, widely regarded as one of the three finest concert halls in the world; and greatly enhanced the orchestra's media exposure on major outlets including CBS, FOX, PBS, NHK, BBC, NPR, and Radio France through widely publicized performances such as the Boston Symphony's Millennium Concert in Paris and the Boston Pops' appearance at Super Bowl XXXVI.

Prior to being named managing director of the BSO, Mr. Volpe had served as executive director of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, vice president and general manager of the Minnesota Orchestra, and general manager of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra.

Mr. Volpe obtained his Juris Doctorate cum laude from the University of Minnesota Law School in 1983. He received his Bachelor's degree in Music with a major in Clarinet Performance from the Eastman School of Music in 1979, and did graduate work at the Indiana University School of Music. Mr. Volpe holds honorary degrees from Northeastern University and New England Conservatory of Music and is on the Board of Directors of the National Arts Stabilization. Mr. Volpe and his wife Martha (Wheaton Class of 1977) have two children, Francesca and Madeline.

The goal of the Wheaton Distinguished Fellows Program is to enrich students' understanding of the major challenges business leaders face and the strategies they use to respond to such challenges.

Karen Cook '74, Trustee Emerita, established the Karen Strauss Cook '74 Distinguished Fellows at Wheaton program in 1997. Past Distinguished Fellows have included Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, who was then vice president and general counsel of Texaco; David Ellis, president and director of the Museum of Science; Dr. Sam Thier, president and CEO of Partners Health Care Systems; Chief Justice Margaret Marshall, of the Supreme Court of Massachusetts, former Massachusetts Gov. Jane Swift and Paul Grogan, president of the Boston Foundation.