“Arts consultant Michael M. Kaiser has been named interim executive director of the San Antonio Symphony,” reports Deborah Martin in Wednesday’s (7/11) San Antonio Express-News (TX). “Kaiser advised the city/county task force formed earlier this year as it worked to come up with solutions to the symphony’s recurring financial issues. The symphony will have to meet the goals mapped out by the task force—including hiring a permanent executive director by Dec. 31 and having new board members in place by Oct. 1—in order to receive city and county funding. A search is underway for a permanent executive director. Arts Consulting Group … is conducting that process. Kaiser is a well-regarded consultant whose career includes stints leading the Kennedy Center and the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater.… He founded the Kennedy Center Arts Management Institute, now known as the DeVos Institute of Arts Management, in 2001 to serve as a training ground for arts administrators…. Kaiser is bringing in a small team from the DeVos Institute to help out with the symphony.… Kaiser succeeds Karina Bharne, who stepped in as interim executive director in January…. Bharne left to accept a job as executive director for Symphony Tacoma.”
Posted July 12, 2018
In large photo: The San Antonio Symphony at the Tobin Center for the Performing Arts. Inset photo: Michael Kaiser
