Shenandoah University will host two of the nation’s most prominent arts management leaders for a campus and community discussion at 4 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 26, in the Glaize Studio Theatre of Ohrstrom-Bryant Theatre on Shenandoah University’s main campus. This event is free and open to the public.
Michael Kaiser, president of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, and Terrence Jones, president & CEO of the Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts, will offer their perspectives on the state of the arts and give examples of how they built nationally and internationally recognized organizations and programs.
Topics include the challenges in today’s non-profit organizations, career advice for young professionals and their own experiences in non-profit management.
This panel was organized by Adjunct Assistant Professor of Arts Management Ricki Marion’s arts management project management class. The group set out to expose students in the arts management program to working professionals in the field. Aiming high, they extended their first invitations to Kaiser and Jones, both of whom have a commitment to education and the performing arts.
Kaiser has served as president of the Kennedy Center since January 2001. In 2001, he created the Kennedy Center Arts Management Institute, now known as the DeVos Institute of Arts Management, for developing arts administrators. Kaiser is also the creator of Arts in Crisis: A Kennedy Center Initiative and the Any Given Child program.
Kaiser has served as executive director of the Royal Opera House, American Ballet Theatre and Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater Foundation. He is the founder of Kaiser Associates, a consulting firm in the corporate sector, and is the author of six books. He received his master’s degree in management from MIT and his bachelor’s degree in economics from Brandeis University.
Terrence Jones is retiring after 17 years of service as president and CEO of the Wolf Trap Foundation. In 2000, Jones launched Wolf Trap’s new performance series, Faces of America. He also helped establish a National Center for Education at Wolf Trap and oversaw the designation of the Wolf Trap Foundation as a Climate Friendly Park by the EPA/National Park Service.
Jones previously served as CEO and artistic director of the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts, general manager of Clowes Memorial Hall and the assistant dean of the College of Fine Arts at Butler University. He is the founder of the Bradford Repertory Theatre in Bradford, Vt. Jones earned a Bachelor of Science in Education and a Master of Arts in Theatre at the University of Kansas.