Syracuse University and Le Moyne College are partnering up in a forum to encourage leadership in the arts in the local community.

SU’s Janklow Arts Leadership Program and Le Moyne College will host the leadership forum on Feb. 25, featuring the former president and executive director of the Syracuse Symphony Orchestra.

The SU arts program is teaming up with Le Moyne’s Arts Administration Program and Madden School of Business to host the leadership panel, titled “Leadership of Today’s Arts Organizations,” at 7 p.m. in Le Moyne’s W. Carroll Coyne Center for the Performing Arts.

Trey Devey, who worked at the orchestra for five years, will speak on leadership strategies he used when he was in the not-for-profit and professional arts industries, said Travis Newton, director of music and arts administration at Le Moyne.

For Devey, now the president of the Cincinnati Symphony and Pops Orchestra, Syracuse is a special city. While working with the Syracuse Symphony Orchestra, he said he was introduced to people at SU and the corporate and civic community that were “tremendous.”

“I surrounded myself with mentors and people that looked out for me and gave me advice when I needed it,” Devey said.

Mark Nerenhausen, professor of practice and founding director of the Janklow Arts Leadership Program, said Devey also has a great background in the business world and is nationally recognized. He has worked with the Florida Philharmonic, Alabama Symphony and Boston Consulting Group, among others.

As president of the Cincinnati Symphony and Pops Orchestra, Devey oversees its $45 million budget, according to Le Moyne’s press release. Since leading the organization, Devey has had five consecutive seasons with balanced budget operations.

“The Cincinnati Symphony is one of the most successful orchestras,” Nerenhausen said. “Our respective institutions have a role to play in improving our community, and by bringing in someone like Trey Devey, we can enhance the art in our community.”

This is the second high-profile speaker that SU and Le Moyne College have collaborated on to bring to Syracuse, Newton said. Zenetta Drew, executive director of the Dallas Black Dance Theater, spoke last year.

“The two programs feel that by teaming up on these events, synergy and energetic dialogue around the arts can be generated,” Newton said.

Both arts programs incorporate business skills into their programs. The Madden School of Business is partnering in the forum because arts organizations are businesses, Newton said. He said any business student with an understanding of the arts industry will benefit their career.

Nerenhausen said he hopes everyone at the very least experiences an “engaging, thought-provoking and upbeat” forum. The audience will hear about Devey’s perspective of the arts and, hopefully, will come away with concrete ideas about leadership, Newton said. These ideas will not expand exclusively to the arts, but to any field.

“If people walk away with two or three ideas or perspectives that they didn’t have walking in, then either think about their career or their involvement with their particular organization and help them improve,” Devey said, “Then I think that would be a success.”

Published on February 25, 2014 at 1:26 am

Contact Jackie: jmfrere@syr.edu | @jackie_frere