With arts organizations reeling from the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, and bracing for worse, the League of American Orchestras has chosen a new leader to help guide its field through a bruising period. The league announced on Friday that Simon Woods, a longtime orchestra administrator, would be its next chief executive.

Mr. Woods, who abruptly stepped down as chief executive of the Los Angeles Philharmonic in September, after less than two years on the job, will replace Jesse Rosen, who has led the league since 2008.

In an interview, Mr. Woods praised the role that the league has taken in recent weeks in advocating for federal stimulus funding, and pointed to its ability, as the industry’s main trade organization, to bring the field together at a difficult moment. But he did not underplay the challenge orchestras are facing.

“The next few months are going to be really hard,” he said. “There’s going to be a lot of heartbreak.”