The Baltimore Symphony has appointed Kendra Whitlock, currently a senior official with the Detroit Symphony, as its new vice president and general manager. She is expected to take up her duties — which will include overseeing all day-to-day operations of the orchestra and Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, education programs, library and personnel management, as well as programming of the orchestra's Special Presentations and SuperPops concerts — in early April.

Whitlock comes to the Baltimore Symphony at a time of transition. Following a period of low attendance and financial difficulties that led to the orchestra's spending nearly one-third of its endowment to pay down accumulated debt, the ensemble got a new board chairman (Michael Bronfein) and a new President and CEO (Paul Meecham) last year. Fast-rising conductor Marin Alsop begins her tenure as music director in Baltimore next fall.

At the Detroit Symphony, Whitlock served as director of pops and special programming, overseeing all non-classical performances and presentations. She previously held positions as general manager of the Phoenix Symphony and orchestra manager of the Tulsa Philharmonic.