Dr. Ayden Adler serves as Associate Professor of Arts Administration at the University of Houston-Downtown where she also teaches in the graduate Nonprofit Management program. With degrees from Princeton University (A.B.), the Juilliard School (M.M.), and the Eastman School of Music (M.A., D.M.A., Ph.D.), her professional background and experience encompasses music performance, scholarship, teaching, and administrative positions at some of the nation’s most esteemed cultural institutions and universities. As a nonprofit consultant and executive coach, her clients include small and large nonprofit cultural organizations as well as individual administrators, board members, artists, academics, and entrepreneurs. Dr. Adler has served as a Chief Executive Global Fellow of National Arts Strategies, a research affiliate of the Strategic National Arts Alumni Project, an accreditor for the National Association of Schools of Music, as a director on the board of the College Music Society, and a member of the arts advisory board for the Chumir Foundation.

Dr. Adler’s vision is to sustain the arts through robust inclusivity and diversity, superlative artistry, and innovative approaches to audience engagement and retention. As a frequent speaker and panelist, Dr. Adler regularly gives presentations at national and international arts and culture forums that address issues of civic and economic relevance, power and privilege, entrepreneurship, leadership, and new technologies. Her academic research focuses on the history of orchestral institutions and the role of arts and culture in society. Her current book project, Orchestrating Whiteness: Serge Koussevitzky, Arthur Fiedler, and the Boston Symphony Orchestra, under contract with the University of Illinois Press, addresses the historical roots of systemic racism in classical music in the United States.

As dean of the School of Music at DePauw University, Dr. Adler lead the groundbreaking 21^st-Century Musician Initiative (21CM), which reimagined approaches to 21^st-century music education in order to graduate flexible, entrepreneurial professionals prepared to serve as globally aware artist-citizens. Dr. Adler also secured $10M for scholarships beginning with the class of 2021; commissioned a new opera, The Last Dream of Frida and Diego, composed by Gabriela Lena Frank, with libretto by Nilo Cruz, in partnership with the Fort Worth Opera, San Diego Opera, and UT Austin; and secured Yo-Yo Ma for a performance with the Civic Orchestra of Chicago at DePauw.

In her previous role as dean of the New World Symphony, America’s Orchestral Academy, Dr. Adler redesigned the academic program to address 21^st-century needs of music students by providing high-level training in audience engagement, community engagement, and digital engagement, musician health and wellness, entrepreneurship, and leadership development. With renowned conductor, Michael Tilson Thomas, she oversaw the creation of the Global Audition Training Programme and NWS CONNECT, as well as NWS’s multi-million-dollar digital arm, MUSAIC. 

Before working in higher education administration, Dr. Adler served as Executive Director of the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra in New York City. As the public face of this fiercely democratic organization where musicians work collaboratively to make artistic decisions, she provided direction and leadership towards the achievement of Orpheus’ artistic and administrative goals. During her tenure, she raised over $9M through individual, corporate, foundation, and government gifts and grants. With support from the Mellon Foundation, she expanded the Orpheus Institute, through which Orpheus musicians mentor the next generation of musicians and business leaders in shared leadership, entrepreneurship, and communication. Previously, Dr. Adler led the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra’s Talent Development Program™, and as Director of Education and Community Partnerships for the Philadelphia Orchestra, conceived and created the Billy Joel Fund for Music Education, eZSeatU, and LiveNote®.

As an orchestral musician, Dr. Adler performed in many countries under esteemed conductors, including Loren Maazel, Mstislav Rostropovich, and Alan Gilbert. She served as a member of the horn sections of the Jerusalem Symphony and the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra for over a decade. While performing in the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, Dr. Adler taught horn, natural horn, music history, and arts leadership at the Eastman School of Music. As a chamber musician, she performed with Christoph Eschenbach, Ricardo Morales, Klaus Thunemann, and Mark Inouye, among others. She has recorded for the Harmonia Mundi label and is a voting member of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (Grammy Awards).