Kendall Square Orchestra’s Strategic Plan

Building the Orchestra of the Future

This plan sets the course for 2026–2029. It comes at a moment when what happens on stage has outgrown the organization behind it. It builds the foundation to match the music.

Executive Summary

A Word from Our President and CEO

I have spent most of my career building organizations. I've learned that the ones worth building share a quality that is difficult to name but immediately recognizable. You walk into the room and you know it. K²O has had that quality from the start.

K²O was founded in 2018 by scientists Kelly Clark and Elena Spencer as a way to connect Boston's biopharma and tech communities through music and social impact. That year, Kristo Kondakçi became K²O’s music director, and his energy and inclusive vision helped shape the orchestra from the ground up. Today, our musicians represent more than 70 of Greater Boston's leading science, innovation, and technology institutions, alongside a broader community of professionals across the region.

K²O recently transitioned from our founders having day-to-day organizational roles to appointing a President and CEO, and establishing a larger board. These actions were taken as a foundation for achieving greater growth and ensuring continued success. Our board members bring professional expertise from beyond the arts, and we have already realized benefits. Conversations are direct, the commitment is genuine, and the result, I believe, is an organization that moves with unusual purpose for its size.

What follows is a plan grounded in a straightforward conviction: that this orchestra matters, that it has only begun to find its reach, and that careful, ambitious stewardship is the best way to honor what has been built.

It is a privilege to play a part in it.

David McCue
President and CEO
Kendall Square Orchestra (K²O)

Kendall Square Orchestra creates exhilarating concert experiences, bringing together exceptional musicians from science, technology, and related professions who are deeply committed to artistic excellence, sharing their love of music, and being catalysts for good.

Our Mission
Our Core Values

Commitment

We choose to be K²O, we give it our all, and we hold ourselves to the highest standards of excellence.

Courage and Innovation

We have reimagined what an orchestra can be and we continually expand how music is experienced, shared, and brought to life.

Open Arms

What we build together is meant to be shared.

Strategic Plan Priorities

The strategic planning process identified K²O’s core strengths including a strong biotech identity, highly positive and cohesive organizational culture, and rapid audience growth and engagement. Several inflection points also surfaced, notably the transitional roles of K²O founders and board, and the need for greater capacity and infrastructure to support ambitions.

Based on identified needs and opportunities, this plan is about making K²O’s impact more visibly, broadly, and powerfully felt. We seek to be widely recognized not only as one of the top classical ensembles in the region, but also one that matters more to more people, using our music and platform as a force for good in our community.

Our strategic plan focuses on three pillars supported by the operational foundation required for plan execution.

  • Musicians and leadership desire deep musical engagement and value opportunities to connect with each other, seek to evolve policies to match the ensemble’s high performance level, and prize continuous learning as musicians.

    •      Orchestra Assets: Institutionalize a structured program to strengthen technical foundation, ensemble cohesion, and overall artistic level; update policies to reflect K²O’s growth; hire additional section leaders for musical anchoring, mentorship, and consistency.

    •      New Chamber Series: Broaden K²O’s chamber music presence, deepening artistic bonds between orchestra members while introducing K²O to new communities.

    •      Kendall Square Home: Establish a home base at The Platform for rehearsals, sectionals, and community-facing events.

  • K²O now attracts ~900 attendees per concert, up markedly from levels just a season ago. The audience is decidedly younger than most orchestras and has organically grown beyond family and friends to a classical music patron base which is highly satisfied and deeply engaged with K²O concert experiences. Simultaneously, K²O lacks a centralized marketing engine and offers a high volume of comp tickets.

    •      Marketing: Develop the marketing capacity to attract and retain audiences; adopt a CRM system to ensure that every patron is seen, remembered, and invited back; and develop a peer-to-peer toolkit to equip musicians with the means to engage their own communities.

    •      Pricing: Redefine ticket prices for greater alignment with delivered value while continuing to ensure access; create pathways for greater attendance frequency, loyalty, and support.

    •      Biotech Community Engagement: Fully activate the community we’re built from, bringing Boston’s scientists, engineers, and innovators into the audience.

    •      Brand Identity and Digital Presence: Shape a clear and unmistakable K²O identity, expressed through a unified visual language, voice, and digital presence that instantly signals who this orchestra is and why it matters.

  • From its outset K²O has committed to being a catalyst for good. We direct our work towards real human challenges; as we grow, we want to make our social impact greater, more visible, and deeply felt with key initiatives and the assistance of aligned partnerships.

    •      Partnership Development: Build partnerships rooted in shared social impact values. Equip K²O members and board to identify, cultivate, and sustain partnerships, positioning the orchestra strategically to align offerings with partner priorities.

    •      Symphony for Science: Strengthen K²O’s signature benefit event with the organizational support it deserves, including a dedicated gala committee and project management.

    •      Leading Tone: Relaunch our professional leadership development program, utilizing the orchestra as a living laboratory for teamwork and leadership building.

  • To achieve our goals, this plan calls for investments in orchestra assets and performance reach; greater infrastructure for marketing, patron relationship-building, financial management, and community events/fundraising; and more detailed short and longer-term budgeting to reflect likely organizational expenses and revenue/growth opportunities over the next three years.

Interested in exploring the full strategic plan and the vision guiding K²O’s next chapter?

Get In Touch

Our Turn to Listen

Scientists know that progress requires curiosity. Musicians know that great performances are built through listening.

As we begin this next chapter, we’d love your perspective:
What resonates? What opportunities do you see? What should we be thinking about?

Share a thought, an idea, a question, or a challenge.

Every submission will be reviewed by K²O leadership.