EUYO APPOINTS MARSHALL MARCUS AS NEW CEO
14 December 2012
The European Union Youth Orchestra is delighted to announce the appointment of Marshall Marcus as its new Chief Executive Officer. Marshall Marcus will take up the newly created position in January 2013 to build upon the orchestra’s 35-year legacy as one of the world’s leading pre-professional orchestras, develop a compelling and dynamic plan for a vibrant artistic future and ensure that it continues to fulfil its mission to offer exceptional musical and educational experiences for young musicians throughout the European Union.
“With its twin ideals of musical excellence and the critical importance of the cultural development of young people, the EUYO is an institution of immeasurable value. It is therefore with great pleasure that I have accepted the invitation to become the EUYO’s first Chief Executive, and to lead the organisation into a new and radical phase of development,” said Marshall Marcus.
Joy Bryer, who co-founded the EUYO in 1976 with her husband Lionel, will step back from her day-to-day duties and has been appointed to the new position of EUYO President. “I am delighted that Marshall Marcus will be joining the EUYO and has the same ideals and aims that my husband and I dreamed of so many years ago. The EU is facing difficult times – however I am convinced that our extraordinarily talented musicians will show the whole world that 27 countries, uniting around a common purpose, can bring our hopes and dreams to fruition,” said Joy Bryer.
Marshall Marcus
After more than 25 years as a solo, chamber and orchestral violinist with appearances in 60 countries, and then a decade in London as CEO of the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment (of which he was a founder member) and head of music at the Southbank Centre, Marshall Marcus has in recent years worked worldwide on a variety of projects devoted to helping advance the values and practice of Venezuela’s revolutionary El Sistema. He founded a baroque music programme and ensemble in Venezuela at the request of Fundación Musical Simón Bolívar’s Director and founder Maestro José Antonio Abreu, and in February 2012 created Sistema Europe, a network of 24 organisations in 18 countries, to assist and promote the work of European Sistemas inspired by Venezuela’s music education system. His Sistema writings at https://marshallmarcus.wordpress.com have been accessed by people in more than 90 countries. He is a Trustee and Director of In Harmony – Sistema England and a member of the British Council’s Arts and Creative Economy Advisory Group, and will continue to advise Fundación Musical Simón Bolívar’s baroque programme.