Boston & The Refugee Orchestra Project

After two weeks of big ideas at Santa Fe Opera, the willingness of Allison Drovairos, Executive Director of the Refugee Orchestra Project, to get into nitty-gritty operational detail is a welcome change. Big ideas can be inspiring, but the main outcome I’m seeking from my Churchill Fellowship is to find examples of sustainable operational models for my own project. I already know it’s possible; I want it to be possible for the next twenty years and beyond.

Boston-based, the Refugee Orchestra Project was founded by conductor Lidiya Yankovskaya as a way to use music to highlight the vital and diverse roles refugees play in American society. I met Lidiya at the Hart Institute for Women Conductors at the Dallas Opera, and again in Sydney 2024, when she made her Opera Australia debut. On a pouring wet Sydney day, we sloshed our way to a cafe to discuss the founding of the orchestra, its history and its evolution. 

Now, in my conversation with the very focussed, articulate and practical Allison, several key themes emerge: again, the idea of excellence carrying the message; the experience and expertise of the conductor being key to retaining performers; operational and artistic staff working for a combination of love and money; and the likelihood of the founder working pro bono and at times supporting the project with personal funds, especially in its early stages.

Allison came to the orchestra with a background in non-profits. After singing in a Boston performance, she stayed on, initially helping source donations of food for post-concert receptions, then assisting with finance, and, finally, stepping into the Executive Director position. Allison’s father and his family are all Russian immigrants, so she felt drawn to the Refugee Orchestra Project, saying she ‘always had a strong pull towards Lidiya and the work that she’s doing’.

‘I’ve always had something in my private life that I feel helps to give back - that’s just been a really important part of my life, so when this organisation was created, and I had really good friends that were a part of it, and I loved the mission, I just felt “why not? Let’s put another thing on my plate.”’

The Refugee Orchestra Project operates largely on what Allison calls a ‘gig model’: organisations who would like the orchestra to perform at an event complete a google form or send an email; the orchestra then reserves the dates, negotiates on budget, and signs a contract. The negotiated fee must cover all administration related to the project, the musicians’ performance fees and any travel, any public relations required, music rental fees, rehearsal venues, and all other on-costs. 

While this results in each performance being fully covered, it doesn’t leave much for extra revenue. This means Allison and the other operational staff currently aren’t covered for any administrative work required between gigs. At one point Allison received a stipend, funded by Lidiya herself, but right now, everyone’s agreed the gig model makes the most sense. Fortunately, Allison says, there’s a lot of interest. 

While the operational side of the Refugee Orchestra Project started out with volunteers, and Lidiya still donates her time, the musicians have always been paid (and well, Allison points out, considering the orchestra’s resources). One benefit of engaging professional musicians is that the orchestra can condense rehearsal time - one to three rehearsals per gig, depending on the repertoire. It’s often more practical to choose repertoire the performers already know; the fact that Lidiya can draw on her own extensive professional network to find players helps with this kind of knowledge. When the orchestra’s been engaged in cities where it doesn’t have pre-existing networks, or has gaps to fill, Lidiya finds a trusted colleague to recommend players.

Now they’re more well-known, the Refugee Orchestra Project has musicians reach out to them and ask to play next time the ensemble is in their area. It’s not a requirement for performers to have a refugee background, but Allison thinks that around ninety-five per cent are either refugees themselves or children of refugees. ‘I’ve found personally that people aren’t reaching out to us to perform with our orchestra unless they feel really compelled to support the mission of the organisation,’ she says.

I ask her about the Refugee Orchestra Project’s board composition, which I find very interesting; they mostly appear either to be artists themselves, or to work in the creative industries. It’s a different mix to the usual combination of legal, financial and corporate folk we often see on arts boards in Australia. Allison agrees it’s different to most boards in the USA as well. The Refugee Project Orchestra board acts mostly as an advisory board; they may move to a more formal governance structure in the future but haven’t had the need so far. It was largely formed through Lidiya’s industry contacts. For example, Beth Stewart is Yankovskaya’s PR manager, and has been instrumental in securing excellent media coverage for the orchestra.  Olga Lisovskaya, a Bostonian, has worked with a number of different opera companies, and has close connections with local Russian and Ukrainian groups, bringing a lot of insight into relevant areas.

Great PR coverage and high quality projects have made the ‘gig model’ highly successful; the orchestra has a busy dance card. However, the model does have its downsides: there’s less ability to focus on securing philanthropic support while gig requests keeps rolling in. And Allison says grants are difficult to secure. Funding bodies approve of the orchestra’s mission, but, as in Australia, prefer to fund ongoing programs instead of one-off projects. Ironically, the Refugee Orchestra Project’s success in receiving invitations to perform across the USA and abroad is a another problem for local funding bodies, where demonstrating ties to the local community is critical. The orchestra is now refocusing to bolster its connections to Boston and outlying communities.

​Finally, now that the orchestra holds 501C3 status and is able to fundraise in its own right, it must take care not to be perceived as engaging in political activity. While Yankovskaya might be free to make her own comments on personal social media channels, the orchestra is not; nor can it participate in fundraising events connected with political figures.

Nevertheless, the Refugee Orchestra Project can still make an impact. Allison gives examples of performances given in collaboration with organisations seeking to highlight their own work on particular issues of social justice or human rights. Consider the difference between inviting a public speaker to amplify your message, and inviting a symphony orchestra. As Allison points out, there’s nothing like the visuals - not to mention the emotional impact - of a symphony orchestra to make your event or your message stand out.

The Refugee Orchestra Project is heading towards its tenth year, and it, like the Pueblo Opera Program, is facing the question of ‘what next?’. 

​One thing’s for sure: the issues that provoked its creation don’t seem to be going away anytime soon.