Ann Meier Baker

Ann Meier Baker retired as the Director of Music & Opera at the National Endowment for the Arts in January 2025. During her ten-year tenure, she oversaw the NEA’s grantmaking in music and in opera, and lead the NEA Jazz Masters Fellowship Program. Her portfolio included a broad range of music—from orchestral, choral and chamber music, to early music, contemporary classical music, jazz, and opera.

Prior to assuming her position at the NEA, Ann served as president and CEO of Chorus America, where she led the national membership association of more than 2,000 professional, volunteer, symphonic, and youth choruses. During her fifteen years there, Chorus America gained significantly in stature and significance, and Ann played key leadership roles in coalitions across many arts disciplines.

Ann’s career includes nearly 40 years of leadership experience in the arts and also in education. Prior to her fifteen-year tenure at Chorus America, she was the Founding Director of the National School Boards Association’s Foundation, an incubator for new ideas about the challenges facing urban school board leaders and other issues in public education. She also held leadership positions at the League of American Orchestras and the National Association for Music Education. She has produced books on governance of nonprofit arts organizations, andhas garnered several awards, including Chorus America’s induction into the Classical Music Hall of Fame in 2011.

Ann began her career as a professional singer with the United States Air Force Singing Sergeants, where she met her husband, Robert Baker, whose singing career includes appearances with significant opera companies, orchestras, and chamber music and new music ensembles