In 2015 Eric Booth was honored with American for the Arts’ Arts Education Leadership Award, and was named one of the 50 most influential people in the arts in the U.S.  He began as a Broadway actor, and became a businessman (his company became the largest of its kind in the U.S. in seven years), and author of six books, the most recent is Playing for Their Lives (W.W. Norton) which reports on the global growth of the El Sistema-inspired movement.  He has been on the faculty of Juilliard (12 years), Tanglewood (five years), The Kennedy Center (20 years), and Lincoln Center Education (34 years, where now he is the leader of their Teaching Artist Development Labs). He serves as a consultant for many arts organizations (including seven of the 10 largest U.S. orchestras), cities, states, community organizations, and businesses around the U.S. A frequent keynote speaker, he founded the Teaching Artist Journal and the International Teaching Artist Conferences. Many of his articles are available on his website: www.ericbooth.net