J. Edward Cambron
Vice President, Marketing and Public Relations
The Philadelphia Orchestra
J. Edward Cambron has more than 27 years of experience in arts management and has served in a leadership position with The Philadelphia Orchestra Association (POA) for more than 20 years. He joined POA in 1987 as subscription manager and shortly thereafter became director of subscriber and donor services, then assistant director of marketing, then director of marketing. He became vice president for marketing in 1999 and assumed responsibility for public relations in 2003. In 2005 The Philadelphia Orchestra Association took over management of Peter Nero and the Philly Pops® which added a second brand to Mr. Cambron’s portfolio.
During his tenure at the POA, Mr. Cambron established Ticket Philadelphia, a collaborative, revenue generating ticketing operation. He led the negotiations for this unique joint venture between The Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts and the Philadelphia Orchestra, which serves the needs of the resident companies of the Kimmel Center. He has also served in the capacity of negotiator for the Association for the musicians’ collective bargaining agreement and summer residency contracts. Mr. Cambron oversaw all marketing efforts around the Orchestra’s move from the Academy of Music to The Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts as well as the introduction of music director Christoph Eschenbach. He has served as a key member of the POA leadership team, working with the board of directors and on the development of several strategic plans, and he has led projects involving new technology and electronic media. Most recently he spearheaded the development of an innovative business plan to distribute live Orchestra content globally via Internet2. He served on the search committee for a new Orchestra president and CEO, resulting in the 2006 appointment of James Undercofler.
Mr. Cambron has served on national research advisory committees for several foundations, including the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation Magic of Music initiative, and has been an active participant in the arts research community. He has also served on various committees of the League of American Orchestras (formerly the American Symphony Orchestra League), and has acted as marketing chairperson for the national conference. He occasionally consults with orchestras nationally through Wolf Brown, one of the country’s leading consulting firms for the nonprofit sector. A native of Shepherdsville, KY, Mr. Cambron previously worked for the Los Angeles Theater Center and the Actors Theatre of Louisville, and in 1992 he was director of marketing for the Florida Philharmonic. He holds a bachelor’s degree in fine arts from the University of Louisville.