Anwar Nasir
The Grant Park Music Festival is thrilled to welcome Anwar Nasir as our President and CEO starting late summer/early fall of 2026.
Beginning in 2021, Nasir served as Executive Director of the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra (LPO), the nation’s only full-time, musician-governed and collaboratively operated orchestra. As Executive Director, he led the organization’s strategic vision, financial sustainability initiatives, fundraising and institutional advancement efforts, audience growth strategies, and operational leadership to strengthen the orchestra’s long-term impact and position as a cultural cornerstone of New Orleans and Louisiana.
Under Nasir’s leadership, the LPO advanced initiatives focused on organizational growth, audience development, community engagement, and expanded artistic collaboration while growing attendance to near decade highs. He has championed innovative programming and strategic partnerships that deepen community connection and broaden the orchestra’s reach, including collaborations with Louisiana and New Orleans artists such as Tank and The Bangas, Big Freedia, Dawn Richard, Juvenile, and Lost Bayou Ramblers. In 2024, the orchestra earned its first GRAMMY Award, receiving Best Regional Roots Music Album recognition alongside Lost Bayou Ramblers.
Nasir brings nearly two decades of executive and arts administration leadership experience spanning orchestra management, nonprofit strategy, patron engagement, earned revenue growth, contributed revenue development, and organizational transformation. Throughout his career, he has focused on building sustainable business models, strengthening philanthropic support, expanding audiences, and aligning institutional strategy with mission-driven impact. Prior to joining the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra, he held leadership positions with the Omaha Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic and Hollywood Bowl, Atlanta Ballet, and Philadelphia Workforce Development Corporation.
Early in his career, Nasir was recognized as an emerging leader in the arts and culture sector by the League of American Orchestras and Arts for LA. Nasir has also served in leadership capacities advancing professional development, equity, and institutional innovation across the cultural field. His service includes leadership roles with the League of American Orchestras, the International Ticketing Association (INTIX), the Tessitura Network Diversity, Equity, Access, and Inclusion Advisory Committee, Syracuse University’s College of Visual and Performing Arts Young Alumni Council, and as co-founder of the Black Arts Leadership Alliance, an initiative supporting pathways and career development for Black arts administrators.
An in-demand speaker, Nasir has presented nationally and internationally on audience development, patron acquisition and retention, revenue strategy, customer experience innovation, data-informed decision-making, inclusion and accessibility, technology integration, and leadership development within cultural institutions.
A former professional dancer, Nasir earned a Bachelor of Science in Communication and Rhetorical Studies from Syracuse University and has completed executive leadership and management training through the League of American Orchestras’ Essentials of Orchestra Management program and the Georgia Center for Nonprofits.