The Charlottesville Symphony Society invites applications and nominations for the position of Executive Director, available in the late spring of 2025. Janet Kaltenbach, who has served as Executive Director for more than 16 years, has announced that she will step down from the role at the end of the 2024/2025 season. Her legacy is a strong and dynamic organization currently celebrating its 50th anniversary.
The Charlottesville Symphony Society
https://cvillesymphony.org/
The Charlottesville Symphony Society (CSS), engages audiences of all ages in Charlottesville and beyond through exceptional musical experiences, imaginative community collaborations, and inspiring education programs, independently and in partnership with the Charlottesville Symphony at the University of Virginia (UVA). A primary focus is providing most of the orchestra’s financial, marketing, and administrative support.
Known as one of Virginia’s leading musical ensembles, the Charlottesville Symphony has been a source of tremendous civic pride and an emblem of the bond between university and community. The 2024/2025 season is a year-long celebration of the orchestra’s 50-year history as the organization looks ahead to a bright future and the opening of a new concert venue at UVA’s planned Center of the Arts.
Currently in the design and fundraising phase, the Tessa and Richard Ader Performing Arts Center will be the first in UVA’s history to offer a state-of-the-art, acoustically superior, 21st-century performance and rehearsal space. It will feature a 1,200-seat large hall, a 150-seat small hall, a large orchestral rehearsal space, interdisciplinary arts space, and a dedicated dance area, allowing the University to host concerts, dance performances, theater productions, and more in a facility unmatched in Central Virginia. The new UVA Center for the Arts will relocate the Music Department (currently housed in Old Cabell Hall), Dance Department, and the University’s two museums – the Fralin Museum of Art and the Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection – providing expanded exhibition, education, and engagement spaces adjacent to the Performing Arts Center. The PAC is currently scheduled to open in the Fall of 2029.
Charlottesville Symphony members are professional musicians, most of whom are UVA music faculty; accomplished community members; and auditioned university students from a wide range of academic backgrounds. Admired for his dynamism on the podium, Benjamin Rous has served as Music Director of the Charlottesville Symphony since 2017. He is also an Associate Professor of Music at UVA.
The orchestra presents five pairs of Masterworks concerts in the 850-seat Old Cabell Hall on the Grounds of the University of Virginia and in the 1,100-seat Martin Luther King, Jr. Performing Arts Center at Charlottesville High School. The 2024-25 50th Anniversary Season was crafted by Benjamin Rous to “emphasize the symphonic tradition while also continuing to share the versatility of orchestra performance and the way our music can intersect with the modern world.” It combines audience favorites by Barber, Beethoven, Debussy, Prokofiev and Verdi, among others; works by contemporary composers Jonathan Russell and Kaija Saariaho; and a 50th Anniversary commission for rapper, countertenor, and orchestra by UVA Associate Professor of Hip Hop and the Global South A.D. Carson.
Annual Family Holiday Concerts are co-produced with the UVA University Singers. Members of the Charlottesville Symphony play in Charlottesville Ballet’s annual production of The Nutcracker. Collaborations with the Ballet, Charlottesville Opera, Virginia Discovery Museum, Virginia Film Festival, and other community partners are frequent.
The Charlottesville Symphony Society is also known for its long-standing commitment to music education throughout Central Virginia. Highly respected programs include in-person and digital Youth Concerts; in-school instrument lecture-demonstrations; masterclasses; side-by-side coaching sessions; refurbished instrument donations; private lesson scholarships; and digital pre-concert lecture presentations.
A 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation, the Society is governed by a 24-member volunteer board of directors comprised of community leaders. The Chair of the UVA Music Department and an elected orchestra representative serve as ex-officio members. The CSS is managed by a four-member professional staff. Its FY25 operating budget is $1.5M. An endowment fund of $8M is managed by the University of Virginia.
The Opportunity
The next Executive Director (ED) of the Charlottesville Symphony Society will lead an organization that is artistically ambitious and fiscally strong. The ED will continue to develop mutually beneficial relationships between CSS and the University of Virginia as the orchestra prepares to move into its new home at the UVA Center for the Arts. The ED will be able to expand existing partnerships to ensure that CSS continues to serve audiences on the university Grounds, in area schools, and throughout the Charlottesville community.
About Charlottesville
Located 120 miles southwest of Washington, DC, and 70 miles northwest of Richmond, VA, Charlottesville sits at the gateway to Shenandoah National Park near the base of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Steeped in an ever-evolving history, Charlottesville is home to the University of Virginia, designed by Thomas Jefferson in 1817. Jefferson’s home, Monticello, sits three miles from downtown and is a popular national tourist site. Both sites were named National Heritage Sites by UNESCO in 1987. Home to wineries and breweries, outdoor sports, a number of music venues, and a thriving historic downtown, Charlottesville is a vibrant university community of more than 20,000 UVA students annually; Albermarle County has a population of approximately 120,000 residents.
Charlottesville hosts the Virginia Film Festival, the Virginia Theatre Festival, the Virginia Festival of the Book, and the Rivanna Conservation Alliance’s RiverFest. The Jefferson School African American Heritage Center serves as a cultural hub.
The renovated Paramount Theater is home to performances produced by the Charlottesville Ballet, the Charlottesville Opera, and other outstanding area arts organizations.
The Position
The Executive Director provides leadership and vision that allow the Charlottesville Symphony Society to fulfill its mission and achieve its goals for artistic excellence, financial sustainability, and engagement with its broad community. The ED is responsible and accountable for all aspects of the CSS’s management, including: strategic planning; board relations; artistic administration; budgeting and finance; fund raising; marketing and audience development; communications and public relations; concert production and operations; education programs; and community engagement.
The Executive Director reports to the Board of Directors through the Board President. The ED works closely with the Music Director to achieve artistic goals and maintains strong working relationships with the Orchestra’s principal musicians, UVA’s Vice Provost for the Arts, and UVA’s music department. The ED recruits, motivates, and supervises the administrative staff. The ED oversees all volunteers and contractors. The ED ensures that a commitment to access for all is a shared value among all who are a part of the Charlottesville Symphony Society.
The Executive Director oversees all aspects of concert production and operations including scheduling, engagement of artists, venue arrangements, technical requirements, and use of electronic media. The ED fosters a supportive environment that allows the Music Director, orchestra members, and guest artists to do their best work.
The Executive Director takes a leadership role in annual and capital fundraising from all sources, including individuals, businesses and corporations, and foundations. The ED identifies, cultivates, and solicits both individual and institutional donors and provides excellent stewardship for all gifts received. The ED gives impetus to the fundraising efforts of the Board. Working with staff and volunteers, the ED ensures the success of fundraising activities and special events.
The Executive Director oversees all aspects of marketing and communications for the CSS, including institutional branding, ticket sales and audience development campaigns, social media presence, and public relations efforts.
The Executive Director prepares and manages the annual operating budget of the CSS, monitors income, expenses, and cash flow on a regular basis. The ED ensures that the Board of Directors have timely and accurate information to inform their decision-making.
The Executive Director is the principal spokesperson for the CSS throughout the community, the region, and the state. The ED establishes and maintains productive working relationships with other arts, education, and community organizations and actively seeks opportunities for collaborations and partnerships. The ED is a full-time resident and an active participant in the life of the Charlottesville community.
Candidate Profile
The successful candidate will be a proven leader who combines a passion for music and orchestras with excellent interpersonal skills, strong business management skills, and a track record for achieving and exceeding fundraising goals. The candidate will have a minimum of five years of senior management experience, preferably with a symphony orchestra or other not-for profit arts organization. A graduate degree in arts management will be considered an asset. Prior experience working within an academic institution or another matrixed leadership structure is highly desirable.
The successful candidate will have a strong working knowledge of music and orchestras, artists, and symphonic repertoire, including music of our time. Experience programming and producing pops concerts will be an asset. The candidate will have the proven ability to work effectively with a music director and with other colleagues in a university environment. The candidate will have successful experience working with creative and performing artists.
The successful candidate will have excellent planning, budgeting, and financial management skills. The candidate will have a record of success with fundraising from both institutional and individual donors. The candidate will have experience developing and executing effective marketing plans to drive both revenue and patron engagement. The candidate will have experience assembling, managing, motivating, and leading teams to achieve program and organizational objectives.
The successful candidate will have excellent verbal and written communication skills and the ability to speak and write persuasively about the value and importance of the Charlottesville Symphony Society. The candidate will have the demonstrated ability to build successful collaborative relationships with a wide and diverse number of stakeholders, including the Board, staff, artistic personnel, volunteers, subscribers, donors, audience members, UVA leadership, and the broader Charlottesville community.
The candidate will have a track record that reflects a personal commitment to making the arts accessible to the broadest possible audience. The candidate will be able to handle sensitive situations with poise, tact, and diplomacy. The candidate will be flexible, patient, and cool-headed under pressure. The successful candidate will have the ability to manage competing demands and multiple priorities, and to make judgment calls and sound, ethical decisions. The candidate will be a problem solver who is able to bring differing points of view into alignment. The candidate will welcome the opportunity to participate in the civic and cultural life of the greater Charlottesville community.
Compensation
The salary range for this position is $90,000 to $110,000 per year, depending on qualifications and experience. A benefits package, including additional compensation to acquire healthcare, is included.
Applications
The Charlottesville Symphony Society is committed to abiding by all applicable laws and regulations, and welcomes recommendations, nominations, and applications from all qualified candidates regardless of race, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, or any other protected characteristic.
Applicants are asked to submit a cover letter that describes specific interest in the Charlottesville Symphony Society and outlines experience and qualifications for the position as described in the candidate profile. Please send this letter with a resumé. On a separate sheet, please also include the names and contact information for several professional references. All applications will be treated as confidential, and references will not be contacted without the applicant’s knowledge and agreement. Electronic submissions are requested.
The position will remain open until filled; the Search Committee will begin to review credentials in late February.
Charlottesville Symphony Society – Executive Director
c/o Catherine French Group
2500 Q Street NW, Suite 623
Washington, DC 20007
applications@catherinefrenchgroup.com
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