RICHARD LONSDORF

DIRECTOR OF PROGRAMMING

With nearly two decades of experience bringing complex and creative artistic projects to life, Richard Lonsdorf joined the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus and the Chan National Queer Arts Center as Director of Programming in November 2024.

Previously, he served as Executive Director of San Francisco’s New Century Chamber Orchestra, where he helped the orchestra embrace multimedia presentations and rebuild its audience in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Lonsdorf forged his programming career in the artistic planning departments of the San Francisco Symphony, and both the Los Angeles and New York

Philharmonics. While at the SF Symphony, he shepherded the immersive, multimedia SoundBox series through its widely acclaimed inaugural seasons. He also adapted the orchestra’s non-subscription programming to shifting demographics in the Bay Area, launching new projects such as the Film Series, A Charlie Brown Christmas, and expanded multicultural offerings.

At the New York Philharmonic, Lonsdorf led contemporary music initiatives such as the CONTACT! new music showcase, culminating in performances of Stockhausen’s Gruppen forthree orchestras at the Park Avenue Amory for the Philharmonic 360 project. He also worked closely with Live from Lincoln Center on special event telecasts including an Emmy-nominated production of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Carousel. More recently at the Los Angeles Philharmonic, he brought several programs for the LA Phil’s Centennial Season to life at Walt

Disney Concert Hall and the Hollywood Bowl, including a capstone nighttime 300-drone light show in the skies over downtown Los Angeles.

Lonsdorf spent the early part of his career in artist management, as an assistant at Columbia Artists working with conductors and solo instrumentalists. He also spent a year working on the management team for Shakira, during her 2010 FIFA World Cup campaign for the mega-hit “Waka Waka (This Time for Africa).” In 2018, he earned a management degree through the Sloan Fellowship (MSx Program) at Stanford’s Graduate School of Business, with a focus on design thinking through the Hasso Plattner Institute for Design (d.school). He holds an undergraduate degree in Psychology and German from Harvard University.