SoNA Executive Director D. Riley Nicholson Announces Plans to Depart Role at End of July
Symphony of Northwest Arkansas Board of Directors to Conduct National Search for New Director
FAYETTEVILLE, ARK. (June 1, 2023) — The Symphony of Northwest Arkansas (SoNA) announces the departure of D. Riley Nicholson as Executive Director at the end of July, to take on a new role as Executive Director of the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music. A national search for his successor has begun.
Nicholson is an arts manager, composer, and pianist with experience working across artistic disciplines with contemporary, experimental and classical music, ballet, contemporary dance, and film nonprofits. Now wrapping his third season with SoNA, the organization has transformed in terms of scale, capacity, programmatic diversity, and educational impact.
Over the past three years, Nicholson, the SoNA Board of Directors, musicians, Music Director Paul Haas, and staff, have:
• Adopted a new vision, organizational values, diversity, equity and inclusion action plan, and an ambitious three-year strategic plan.
• Expanded programming to include a larger symphonic mainstage season including a non-classical (“pops”) program.
• Launched SoNA Beyond, a community outreach focused concert series that moves beyond the mainstage, collaborating with vital local nonprofit organizations and artists across the region. SoNA beyond innovates the artform, includes new voices, and immerses SoNA in the community.
• Radically increased educational programming, hiring Education Director Natalie Fernandez – expanding the SoNA Mentors program and youth performances, now reaching 2,000+ students per year.
• Grown contributed revenue streams by 71% supporting a budget of $1.4 million, the largest budget in the organization’s history.
• Grown staff from one full-time employee to four full-time employees.
• Encouraged a focus on living voices of today, including commissioning new works for both SoNA Beyond and the symphonic mainstage – a first for SoNA.
• Recorded SoNA’s first-ever album, which is set to release June 9, 2023.
Nicholson will stay on in his role until July 28, after which he will remain as an advisor and consultant to support the transition process.
Remarking on this transition for the organization, Nicholson says, “The announcement of my departure and my new role with Cabrillo Festival is incredibly bittersweet. I am so grateful for the opportunity to work here in my home state, in this impactful corner of our state. The community here is like no other; there is so much possibility and positivity for the arts in Northwest Arkansas. I will surely miss creating incredible concert experiences with our musicians and Paul.”
“I will also miss the administrative staff at SoNA, in particular Ben Harris, General Manager, who has proven to be one of the most effective, pragmatic, and enjoyable colleagues I have ever had the pleasure of working with. I know he and our SoNA colleagues will prudently manage the organization during the transition process, and will prove to be incredible thought partners with my eventual successor.”
Mike Russell, SoNA Board Chair remarks, “Riley Nicholson will be missed for sure, but we are also very excited that he gets to follow his professional dream. No doubt, Riley made a significant difference during his three years with SoNA. He came into his role during the middle of Covid and he found creative ways to engage key stakeholders early on and helped us paint a vision for the future which we are now wrapping our first year of execution.”
About Cabrillo Festival
Nicholson continues, “My choice to work with the Cabrillo Festival is rooted in my life's work and passion for the contemporary arts, as Cabrillo focuses exclusively on new music and contemporary voices.”
The Cabrillo Festival, based in Santa Cruz, CA, is conducted by Music Director Cristian Măcelaru. Their mission is to transform the orchestral experience for artists and audiences by building a vibrant community dedicated to the creation and performance of profound, relevant, and innovative music. Cabrillo Festival has been boldly envisioning the future of orchestral music for over 60 years.
About SoNA
The Symphony of Northwest Arkansas (SoNA) is the region’s leading professional orchestra. Under the musical direction of Maestro Paul Haas, SoNA presents dynamic and diverse symphonic performances to an audience of more than 25,000 people annually. In its 69th season, the nonprofit has led artistic and educational programming throughout Northwest Arkansas since 1954. SoNA is a resident company of Walton Arts Center in Fayetteville. Through its partnerships across the region, SoNA also frequently appears at locations such as the Walmart AMP, Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art and The Momentary, Ballet Arkansas, John Brown University, the University of Arkansas, the Bentonville Film Festival, and Fayetteville Roots Festival, at area schools and libraries, and other partner locations.