Episode Description
The music is 300 years old. The CEO is 31. Giuliano Kornberg leads the Sacramento Philharmonic and Opera as one of the youngest heads of a major U.S. orchestra-opera hybrid and his job is to honor tradition while making sure classical music stays relevant to a generation that didn’t grow up with it.
In this conversation with Mary Daffin, Giuliano gets into the real tension of leading a legacy art form as a young CEO: how do you keep the masters at the core, the Beethovens and the Puccinis, while also putting Harry Potter on stage, and designing a Saturday night concert experience that a 30-year-old actually wants to attend?
The answer isn’t choosing between tradition and trends. It’s proving they need each other. And behind all of it is the balancing act that every arts leader faces: between creativity and survival, between what the art deserves and what the business demands.
“A rising tide raises all boats. The fact that there’s a community here that cares so much about the arts — it’s really lucky that we’re in that position. A lot of places aren’t.”
Key Takeaways
- How a young CEO balances tradition and trends in one of the oldest art forms still performed live
- Why “keeping the core the core” is Giuliano’s programming philosophy — and what plays well alongside it
- Why live classical music has a real, measurable impact on wellness
- What Sacramento’s growing arts ecosystem says about the city’s identity
Guest
Giuliano Kornberg, CEO of the Sacramento Philharmonic and Opera. Before stepping into the CEO role, he served as Chief Revenue and Development Officer, building the revenue and community partnership strategy from the ground up.
Beyond the Philharmonic, Giuliano is deeply rooted in Sacramento’s civic life and active in the national orchestral field through the League of American Orchestras and the Association of California Symphony Orchestras.
