LI Philharmonic Lets Exec Go – Blame His Inexperience

Last year when the Long Island Philharmonic went looking for a new top executive, they came back with Christopher von Zwehl. Of course he had no background in music; apparently the orchestra’s board was impressed that von Zwehl had raised money for “a proposed freight ferry from Kennedy Airport to New Jersey” and had been instrumental in “bringing the battleship USS New Jersey to that state.” Last week the orchestra let von Zwehl go, admitting he wasn’t up for the job. The problem? “Lack of knowledge about music and the classical music business was a hindrance.”