{"id":108293,"date":"2024-10-07T16:47:47","date_gmt":"2024-10-07T20:47:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/?p=108293"},"modified":"2024-10-08T08:00:02","modified_gmt":"2024-10-08T12:00:02","slug":"interview-alexander-brose-michael-sonja-koerner-president-ceo-royal-conservatory-music","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/2024\/10\/07\/interview-alexander-brose-michael-sonja-koerner-president-ceo-royal-conservatory-music\/","title":{"rendered":"INTERVIEW | Alexander Brose, Michael & Sonja Koerner President & CEO of The Royal Conservatory of Music"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Alexander
Alexander Brose in Koerner Hall (Photo courtesy of the RCM)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Alexander Brose took up the position of Michael & Sonja Koerner President & CEO of The Royal Conservatory of Music on September 1, 2024. He succeeds Dr. Peter Simon, who held the position for 33 years.<\/p>\n

Simon oversaw the transformation of an organization in a state of flux to the educational and performing arts powerhouse it is now. He leaves as it is poised to enter into another phase of its history.<\/p>\n

We spoke to Alexander Brose about leading the RCM into the future.<\/p>\n

Alexander Brose: A Brief History<\/h2>\n

Brose has a solid background in high level management in the field of classical music. Most recently, he served as the inaugural Executive Director and CEO of the Tianjin Juilliard School in China, The Juilliard School\u2019s first and only branch campus.<\/p>\n

Prior to China, Alexander was the Vice President for Development at the Aspen Music Festival and School in Colorado. There, his responsibilities included fundraising and building strategic relationships. He began his career in senior arts management at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music in California, where he held a number of positions, including Associate Vice President for Advancement.<\/p>\n

\"The
The Royal Conservatory of Music, Toronto (Photo: Eduard Hueber<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Making the Move to Toronto<\/h3>\n

\u201cI’ve known about the Royal Conservatory for forever, and obviously, knew of its reputation,\u201d he says. In his early days in San Francisco, he recalls getting applications for the Master\u2019s degree programs from grads of the Glenn Gould School. \u201cThere was one year where we probably had four or five Canadians,\u201d he says. \u201cI got to know more and more about it when I was working in Colorado.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Glenn Gould applicants stood out by reason of their solid background of knowledge. \u201cThey all had placement exams that they had to take,\u201d he explains. At one point, he remembers the music history and theory teachers coming to him to report that the Canadian applicants had all aced those areas on their exams. \u201cIt was the Royal Conservatory, and their curriculum,\u201d he says. \u201cIt was a big eye opener for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

During his time in Aspen, one of the faculty members was clarinetist Joaquin Valdepe\u00f1as, among other things a faculty member of both the Glenn Gould School and Taylor Academy. Alexander heard more about the RCM and its programs from the prominent classical musician and teacher.<\/p>\n

When the call for applications to succeed Dr. Peter Simon came around, the timing was also fortuitous. Brose had put his all into launching the Juilliard name in China. \u201cI was living in China, and this is during COVID, was commuting back and forth,\u201d he explains. It involved being separated from his wife and children for months at a time. Then, once the pandemic began to draw to a close, even though he\u2019d signed a new contract, he knew that his family would not be making the move back to China.<\/p>\n

\u201cFamily first,\u201d he says. He made the decision to walk away, even though it was a school he\u2019d built from scratch for more than four years. \u201cIt was a very emotional thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

The call from the agency contracted by the RCM to find suitable candidates came right around that time. \u201cAnd then she asked, do you have any connection to Canada?\u201d He laughs. \u201cThe best thing I ever did was marry a Canadian.\u201d<\/p>\n

Raising their children, who have dual citizenship, in Canada was an appealing prospect.<\/p>\n

\"Alexander
Alexander Brose in the Leslie and Anna Dan Gallery of the RCM (Photo courtesy of the RCM)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Landing At The RCM<\/h3>\n

Part of the deal was that he\u2019d be spending a full year working alongside Dr. Simon before he took up the position on his own.<\/p>\n

Having a full year of transition is an unusual situation. \u201cIt’s very unorthodox,\u201d he says. In fact, when the search firm first contacted him, there were extensive discussions about the overlapping year. \u201cI was telling colleagues about it,\u201d he says \u2014 colleagues who wondered aloud whether it was a good idea. He has no regrets about that aspect.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was truly no other way to do it,\u201d he says. \u201cIt was the best decision made by the Board.\u201d<\/p>\n

As he points out, virtually every aspect of the RCM as it exists today bears the marks of Peter\u2019s influence. The experience began by essentially shadowing him on the many facets of his everyday work.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeter, to his great credit, wants nothing more than for this place to succeed,\u201d he says. \u201cThis transition is a two-way street,\u201d he adds. \u201cMy great respect for him and everything he’s accomplished is coupled with his desire for it to succeed.\u201d<\/p>\n

The full year of transition also gave Brose the luxury of time, something rarely allowed in the world of performing arts. \u201cIt gave me time to take a bit of a step back.\u201d<\/p>\n

As time went on, Simon\u2019s involvement was gradually replaced by his own. \u201cI started to really understand.\u201d The RCM is a complex organization with several schools along with a major performing arts venue to manage; there are many balls in the air.<\/p>\n

Brose\u2019s personal approach involved observation and talking to people within the organization. \u201cYou have to listen,\u201d he says. That came down to sitting down with virtually everyone involved and chatting for about 15 minutes about the organization and its many operations. \u201cI did it with 185 people.\u201d<\/p>\n

As he notes, some of those he spoke with had been with the RCM for more than a half century, while others were as new to their jobs as he was. \u201cWhat brought them here, what they love, what could change, and all that,\u201d he says. \u201cThose conversations were invaluable.\u201d It gave him a vivid picture of the RCM as a living organization.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel even more strongly than ever that the future is so bright.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Future<\/h3>\n

The RCM as an institution is evolving to take advantage of its position in Canada as a recognized brand in the world of music education. Brose wants to reach out to connect more closely with the thousands of certified teachers and hundreds of thousands of students across the country.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow can we support teachers? How can we be at the foundation of their success?\u201d He asks. \u201cWe have a huge amount of work to do to unify that brand.\u201d<\/p>\n

Smart Start<\/a> is a program designed for very young children ages 0 to 3, created at The Marilyn Thomson Early Childhood Education Centre by the RCM’s Neuroscience Research Centre. Experts in music education also collaborated on the groundbreaking program.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe also have this remarkable early childhood program,\u201d Brose says. Launching it across Canada, and hopefully around the world, is part of the RCM\u2019s mandate. \u201cIt seamlessly combines neuroscience and music,\u201d he says. \u201cIt’s pretty remarkable. We need to get it in front of more people.\u201d<\/p>\n

As he notes, the goals of early childhood music education isn\u2019t necessarily to create a massive contingent of professional musicians. \u201cThey are training their brain, and their soul,\u201d he says. The benefits of music education on skills like communication and listening, along with math and spatial skill development, are well documented.<\/p>\n

With music education in a state of free fall decline in so many school boards in North America, the effort is much needed. We\u2019re wishing Alexander Brose and the RCM the best as they pursue their goals.<\/p>\n

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We spoke to Alexander Brose, Michael & Sonja Koerner President & CEO of The Royal Conservatory of Music, about leading the RCM into the future.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":64,"featured_media":108295,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[40967,22,29,63],"tags":[40481,1436,2304,2888],"yst_prominent_words":[6715,8465,9021,9057,6616,8473,7951,12857,12742,8282,11056,14618],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/10\/Copy-of-INTERVIEW-28.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9bakr-saF","amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108293"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/64"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=108293"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108293\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":108304,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108293\/revisions\/108304"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/108295"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=108293"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=108293"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=108293"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=108293"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}