| Boosey & Hawkes announces leadership transition: Janis Susskind passes baton to Steven Lankenau |
Managing Director Janis Susskind OBE concludes her distinguished 46-year career at Boosey & Hawkes. Steven Lankenau becomes President, continuing the company’s legacy of championing the world’s leading composers and their music.Boosey & Hawkes, a Concord company, has announced a leadership transition in 2026. Janis Susskind OBE will conclude her tenure as Managing Director in June 2026, following an extraordinary 46-year career with the company. Senior Vice President Steven Lankenau, a veteran publishing executive who has been with Boosey & Hawkes for 15 years, will become President on 1 January 2026 and assume full leadership of the company’s global operations from 1 July 2026. For more than four decades, Janis Susskind has been at the heart of Boosey & Hawkes, leading the world’s foremost classical music publisher as Managing Director for the past 13 years with vision, care, and an unwavering belief in the power of new music. Her tenure has been defined by a deep commitment to composers, partnerships with major cultural institutions worldwide, and steady leadership through times of rapid change in the performing arts. Susskind joined the London office in 1980, learning the publishing business from the ground up before becoming a director in 1997, Publishing Director and Board Member in 2004, and Managing Director in 2012. Her early years at Boosey & Hawkes coincided with a defining moment in the company’s history: landmark agreements in the 1980s with Leonard Bernstein, Elliott Carter, Steve Reich, and John Adams established Boosey & Hawkes as the leading home for American composers, extending a tradition that began with Aaron Copland. She worked closely with these composers through a period of remarkable creative achievement in contemporary music. Throughout her career, Susskind played a significant role in the company’s growth and evolution. In 2003, she served on the executive team – alongside then-Managing Director John Minch and Winfried Jacobs – that guided Boosey & Hawkes through its transition from public to private ownership, securing its independence and laying the foundation for future growth. She fostered a dynamic international approach to the promotion of composers, driving a more than threefold increase in new-music revenues over the past two decades. Susskind played a vital role in defining the company’s contemporary profile, welcoming leading composers such as Louis Andriessen, Harrison Birtwistle, Unsuk Chin, Brett Dean, Henryk Górecki, Joe Hisaishi, Karl Jenkins, Magnus Lindberg, James MacMillan, Mark-Anthony Turnage, and others, while overseeing the stewardship of the major 20th-century estates of Bartók, Bernstein, Britten, Prokofieff, Shostakovich, and Stravinsky. In 2015, Susskind led the effort to bring Stravinsky’s rediscovered early work Funeral Song (1909) into the Boosey & Hawkes catalogue, reaffirming the publisher’s long association with the composer of The Rite of Spring, Petrushka, and The Rake’s Progress. A milestone achievement came with Concord’s 2019 acquisition of Hamburg-based Sikorski Music Publishing, expanding Boosey & Hawkes’s international representation of major composers including Shostakovich, Prokofieff, Khachaturian, Schnittke, Kancheli, Weinberg, and Gubaidulina, along with an active roster of contemporary composers including Lera Auerbach. This expansion affirmed Boosey & Hawkes’s position as the global leader in classical music publishing, uniting major traditions of European, Russian, and American music under one banner. |
| Janis Susskind, Managing Director, Boosey & Hawkes commented: “When I fell down the rabbit hole into the wondrous world of music publishing all those years ago, I discovered the ideal environment for my interests and abilities. A fascination with music and the contemporary creative arts, international perspective, and a natural bent for making connections meant that I’d found my métier. And what an extraordinary catalogue awaited me at Boosey & Hawkes – a veritable roll call of the 20th century greats, ripe for development with new signings. “A few things I’m proud of? Hiring gifted people and enabling them to develop and do sterling work, opening new vistas for our extraordinary composers and earning the trust of performers and music programmers; demonstrating time and again the growth potential of contemporary classical music in today’s world. I am delighted that Steven Lankenau will be carrying the baton forward and I look forward to achieving a smooth transfer over the next six months.” |
| Steven Lankenau first joined Boosey & Hawkes in 2010 as Director of Promotion, bringing extensive programming and commissioning experience from his work at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts and the Brooklyn Philharmonic. As Director of Promotion, he specialized in operatic and orchestral repertoire, overseeing composer management and promotion strategy throughout North and South America. He advanced to Vice President in 2016 and Senior Vice President in 2021, overseeing all artistic and business operations for the company’s New York office. Lankenau has led major international campaigns that have expanded the reach of the B&H catalogue across continents. One of his most significant accomplishments was working on the “Leonard Bernstein at 100” centenary celebrations in collaboration with the Leonard Bernstein Office, generating more than 5,700 performances and events worldwide. He has overseen the signings of composers including Oscar Bettison, Courtney Bryan, David T. Little, Gabriela Ortiz, Sean Shepherd, Ana Sokolović, Jeanine Tesori, and others; and continues to work closely with the estates of major composers including Aaron Copland, Alberto Ginastera, and Claude Vivier. Lankenau has played a central role in integrating Boosey & Hawkes into Concord since the company’s acquisition in 2017, aligning Boosey’s catalogue, operations, and strategy within Concord’s global music enterprise. His work has positioned Boosey & Hawkes for continued growth as the historic publisher approaches its centenary in 2030. |
| Steven Lankenau, Senior Vice President, Boosey & Hawkes commented: “My first big project upon joining Boosey & Hawkes in 2010 was the Benjamin Britten centenary. Encouraging performances of Peter Grimes? Yes, please! In the subsequent 15 years, I’ve had the honour of working with American icons such as John Adams, Elliott Carter, Carlisle Floyd, Osvaldo Golijov, and Steve Reich, and to be part of the journey of composers like Anna Clyne and Gabriela Ortiz as they became major international figures. My love for this music has always come naturally, and I carry that passion forward as I help shepherd this historic publishing house into its next chapter. “It has been an immense privilege to work alongside Janis Susskind, whose leadership, mentorship, and friendship have been a highlight of my career. Her legacy will be deeply felt as we approach Boosey & Hawkes’s centenary in 2030.”Jim Selby, Chief Publishing Executive, Concord stated: “Janis Susskind’s leadership has embodied the values that make Boosey & Hawkes unique – vision, integrity, and an unwavering commitment to composers and their music. Her guidance has preserved the company’s remarkable heritage while ensuring it continues to evolve as a vibrant leader in classical music publishing. “As we look to the future, Concord remains committed to Boosey & Hawkes’s continued growth as a dynamic global force, powered by exceptional teams in London, New York, and Berlin. The appointment of Steven Lankenau as President marks an exciting moment, honouring the traditions and fabric of what makes Boosey & Hawkes so storied while embracing the opportunities to shape its next great era.” |