Under the leadership of Terry D. Loftis, New Jersey Symphony adapts to changing times

TERRY D. LOFTIS

A couple of years ago, a reporter asked Terry D. Loftis what he would be doing if he wasn’t doing what he was doing then, which was being second-in-command at the Dallas Symphony Orchestra.

The upbeat Dallas native, who has been the president and CEO of New Jersey Symphony since March, said he would be outdoors, tending to his garden. “I no longer have a freestanding home now that I’m in New Jersey,” he says now. “But if I were not at work, you would find me at my old house, in my backyard, gardening. I love to see and watch things grow.”

Loftis loves to cultivate, whether he is in the garden or in the concert hall, holding the Symphony’s Ruth C. and A. Michael Lipper Chair. In this top tier position, he will use his artistic and strategic expertise gained from almost 30 years in marketing and advertising to lead the 103-year-old orchestra into a new era.

His vast experience in advancing organizations from both the for-profit and nonprofit sectors, combined with his lifelong love of the arts, gives him an integrated approach to navigating the complex needs of an arts organization.

“Every day I wake up, I see a chessboard in my head of where we are moving today and what gains are we making today in our financial sustainability, our programming culture and our brand,” he says. “Winning takes strategy and that’s a process, not an event. There are a lot of wonderful attributes to this organization. There’s also a great deal of new opportunity and growth that we need to embrace and deploy, and we’re in a time where there are other factors swirling around all nonprofits, especially the arts.

“We’re being vigilant daily to see what might happen, because that’s the world we live in now.”

“First and foremost” on his agenda, he says, is financial sustainability. “Orchestras are still businesses, and they have to be run as such. We have responsibilities not only to the musicians and our music director, but to the staff that supports what we do. That is much more challenging today for performing arts organizations than it was pre-COVID because we’re still determining what our organizations look like and sound like, not only today but into the future.”

Other variables facing arts organizations include rising costs, shifting audience behaviors and greater scrutiny of institutional culture. In addition, volatile economic conditions and regulatory changes such as tariffs could affect giving.

“If your investment portfolio is being affected,” Loftis says, “it impacts all of us because then it’s not just federal funding, and now you’re looking at it from a philanthropic perspective: Are my donors’ portfolios shifting in ways that could decrease their support of the Symphony?”

His vision for the Symphony’s financial health puts a greater impact on cultivating new philanthropic supporters and mobilizing a broad leadership coalition. “That seed planting is critically important in stewardship to make sure that we’re looking 20 years ahead. … What are the seeds that we can plant now that will financially sustain the organization into the future? So it’s not just looking at my next move. It is, what are the next five or six moves ahead of me that are going to achieve that success for us?”

He plans to build deeper connections with the Symphony’s donors and patrons, increase the level of support and talent on the Symphony’s board, and highlight the passion and talent that is already there.

One of his key priorities is to take the Symphony’s brand awareness to the next level. The process of getting there begins with digging into the Symphony’s history and putting a sharper focus on what differentiates it from its East Coast peers.

“The one thing that keeps me up at night is looking at the uniqueness of the New Jersey Symphony being a state orchestra and what distinguishes us differently from an innovation, programming and community engagement perspective, after 102-plus years of being here, and in a landscape and neighborhood that’s quite congested.

“Most of the other big players on the Eastern Seaboard have top-of-mind brands, presence, style and sound, and I think it’s critically important to this Symphony’s future to better hone in on what and who we are today and what makes our brand unique. A lot of that is on us to do a better job of telling our story — drawing a line in the sand from a message development perspective with our brand.”

Other long-term goals include mobilizing the Symphony’s reach and relevance.

“Everyone who lives within the state of New Jersey and beyond the geographical borders needs to know who we are and that we have a world-class conductor and orchestra. Me coming from Texas, where we go all out on everything … it’s okay for us to be proud of our impact in this community and state. We’ve been doing great work for a very long time and there’s nothing wrong with shouting that from the top of buildings.”

An artist’s rendering of what the exterior of the New Jersey Symphony’s Jersey City building will look like.

The Symphony has plenty of high-impact developments to crow about, starting with a new headquarters in Jersey City’s Powerhouse Arts District, slated to open in all 2026. Called the Symphony Center, it will feature a state-of-the-art, 550-seat theater; administrative offices and rehearsal space; and expanded chamber music programming and music education for youth orchestras.

Loftis, a Jersey City resident who lives a 10-minute walk away, will play a critical role in expanding on the Symphony’s capacities from Hudson County’s highly competitive arts and entertainment markets.

“One of the things that I think is of critical importance is that the New Jersey Symphony is a community-supported symphony orchestra,” he says. “We support that community in all of its forms and diverse communities, and we want them to know that we’re here. I don’t want people to say that they must leave New Jersey and go to New York to hear great classical music — and that is not a dig at our friends on the other side of the Hudson River. I think it’s important for us to foster these relationships and collaborations because we’re all dealing with the same issues together. Budget sizes may vary, but at the end of the day, we’re stronger together than we are working apart.”

The orchestra (of 66 full-time musicians who receive salary and benefits) will continue to play at five main stages throughout the state, in Newark, New Brunswick, Red Bank, Morristown and Princeton. “It’s important that I communicate we’re adding Jersey City to our ecosystem, not abandoning one for the other,” he says. “Because it’s still out there in some pockets of the community that we’re leaving Newark. We are not.”

While he has already started testing some ideas and shaping the strategic agenda, this will not happen overnight.

“I use the analogy with the team, which I used in Dallas as well, is that we’re an oil tanker and a very old one, but one that is more nimble, innovative, resourceful and creative. We’re turning in the right direction, but we’re too big to turn on a dime, and I need the support of not only our funders and patrons but of the whole community to perpetuate and enhance what we do.”

BENJAMIN EALOVEGA

XIAN ZHANG

He already has seen interest grow in the Symphony since he arrived, partly from the new building and partly from the news that music director Xian Zhang will leave after the 2027-28 season.

“A big perk is that I get to work with Xian,” he says, “and as she transitions, I have the opportunity to lead the search for our next music director, along with other members of the search committee. Beyond the skill set, what is the energy, zest and talent that we need to look for that is going to make us build on the momentum that we have artistically, but take us in a much different direction? All of that is nerve-racking, but also extremely exciting.”

The search for the Symphony’s next artistic leader, the 15th in its history, has officially launched. And the interest is already immense. Loftis and vice president of artistic planning Erin Lunsford Norton have been bombarded with messages from managers of music directors worldwide.

“That makes me very happy because it enforces the work we’ve done and the work we’re doing, to where people want to come here,” he says. “That’s due in large part to the work Xian has done, but also part of the fabric of this organization and culture.”

Loftis feels deeply aligned with the Symphony’s cultural dynamics, which he calls “revolutionary from its inception. As you probably know, the Symphony was the first major U.S. orchestra to hire a Black music director with Henry Lewis in 1968. I knew that before interviewing for this gig, and it was very comforting to know that there was an ecosystem that supported diverse artists, whether that’s onstage or offstage.”

Loftis comes aboard at a moment of dramatic change. While many arts organizations have worked hard to accelerate diversity, equity and inclusion policies and practices, the new federal administration seeks to squash them. He compares the dismantling of diversity efforts to mowing down a thriving garden. “No one who wants to have an enriched, fulfilled existence is going to plant a spring garden in which there is only one type of flower,” he says. “For those of us who want to immerse ourselves in beauty — and in our situation, that is the arts — what we do would become very boring if it all sounded, looked, acted and responded the same.”

From a funding perspective, the Symphony’s reliance on the federal government is low. However, the New Jersey State Council on the Arts — a partner agency of the National Endowment for the Arts — is partially funded through the NEA, and the Symphony receives funding from the state.

In May, the administration cancelled most of the endowment’s existing grants with vows to eliminate the agency in the next fiscal year. This will have wide-ranging impacts on New Jersey’s small-to-mid-sized nonprofits that rely on support from federal and state agencies to deliver their core programming.

Loftis is closely watching the Symphony’s regional partners and collaborators, especially the ones it is slated to do programming with, to see if they will require additional support. “We are safe there,” he says, “but that doesn’t mean other arts organizations we collaborate with may not be impacted. In this current climate, no vertical market is immune to some of the decisions being made at the federal level.”

TERRY D. LOFTIS

His says that although the Symphony may have to adapt, its commitment to arts accessibility and lifting up the surrounding communities will remain unchanged. “This organization is not backing down from the work that we do or the communities that we support — our initiatives, community engagement and what that means to us — and I‘m fortunate that I have a board that understands that, and my staff is firmly committed to this.

“We’re cultivating a garden — and have been for many, many years — that reflects the unique, diverse community of New Jersey. And if you’re truly going to impact a community, you serve that community in all of its facets. The narrative may have to shift, and not from a place of complacency to conform, but from further articulating that we’re doing the right thing as opposed to trying to check a box.”

The Symphony supports numerous community outreach and educational initiatives including its youth orchestras, which give students, especially Black and Latino youth in the Greater Newark area, opportunities to develop their musical skills.

“When I go out into the venues that the Symphony performs in, I see a cross section of the community,” Loftis says. “We have very strong community programming and engagement, especially around education with our youth orchestras, and those kids come from backgrounds from all over the state and income levels from A to Z. Do we place a special emphasis to support talent and education in marginalized communities? Absolutely. But this isn’t new. We have been doing this for decades, as have many other organizations around the country, so the work is not going to change.”

The Symphony also supports excellence-based initiatives for emerging musicians from populations that have been historically underrepresented. “Whether these kids pursue a long-term post-college career in music is irrelevant,” Loftis says. “By immersing them in the arts, we are rewiring their brains, which will impact the totality of the rest of their lives. I know, because my mom did it to us. Had we not been trained in music, we would not be the people we are today because it opens up possibilities beyond a career of being a musician. That level of training, exposure and immersion should be available and accessible to anyone who wants it, and if someone needs help in doing that, then it’s incumbent upon us as a society to do so.”

Loftis is the middle child of three siblings. His mother, a singer in high school and church, brought music into their lives. He studied trumpet and French horn, and his sister studied classical dance and ballet. His brother, Keith Loftis, is an established jazz tenor saxophonist, based in Brooklyn.

“We all have that cornerstone of the arts in our lives that kind of dictates who we are,” he says. “Because Mom guided us into the arts, she knew that by doing so, it would help us succeed in any career path we chose. It would also help us socially, academically, and to become better people. And it did on all those fronts.”

After graduating from Dallas’ Eastfield College with a degree in music and political science, he ended up at an internship with a media-buying firm in Dallas and spent the next three decades in marketing and advertising, both owning his own agencies and working for other agencies.

While his for-profit career was fulfilling in many ways, “that arts part of me was in the back of my head nagging me that there was no outlet,” he says. “But at the same time, the fiscal side of me knew there was a big difference between a for-profit and a nonprofit salary. So I had to make that decision to say, ‘I’m going to be okay if I do this.’ So I started planting these seeds of, ‘If I were to use my skill set in an arts ecosystem, what might that look like?’ ”

It first manifested itself in theater. “That kind of opened that door,” he says. “I won’t say ‘unintentionally’ because I think everything happens for a reason, but it led to where I am now.”

He said goodbye to the agency world to serve as vice president for the Broadway Strategic Return Fund, a hedge fund in New York focused on Broadway productions. His next chapter took him back to Dallas as president and executive director of The Arts Community Alliance, a grants-funding nonprofit in North Texas. He was appointed to the Dallas Symphony Orchestra board and, a few years later, became the organization’s chief advancement and revenue officer.

“There was no ‘Aha moment’ when I woke up one day and said, ‘I want to go work for a symphony orchestra’,” he says. “It just kind of happened based on my background experience and love of classical music, which I like to say benefited the organization.”

Programming for New Jersey Symphony’s 2025-26 season was already in play before Loftis joined, but he says there is nothing he would change. “It’s touching on so many points of music from a variety of amazing artists and guest conductors,” he says. “You’ve got some very true and staid pros, and then some younger, new talent.”

JOSHUA BELL

The season will celebrate Zhang’s 10th anniversary as music director and also welcome Joshua Bell as the new principal guest conductor, which he will remain through the 2028–29 season.

Loftis is looking forward to concerts featuring guest soloist Randall Goosby (Jan. 8-11) and the season finale with Emanuel Ax (June 4-7). He is also excited to start shaping future seasons with the Symphony’s creative teams. He will take a holistic approach that maintains the Symphony’s artistic traditions while advancing a culturally diverse future.

“From a programming perspective, you’ll see the infusion of innovation that highlights what is uniquely New Jersey Symphony,” he says. “We exist to play classical music and that will never change.”

In building the Symphony’s musical future, it is nice to know that some things will never change. And it will be interesting to see how others will.

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