Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR - The Crossing

Position Summary and Opportunity:

 

The executive director will be based in Philadelphia, report to the Board of Directors, and be responsible for the overall management and day-to-day leadership of the organization. He/she will help enhance the visibility of the group on a worldwide stage, ensure the continued financial strength of The Crossing through development leadership, and initiate and execute initiatives that promote the advancement of the group. The Executive Director will oversee part-time staff in operations, marketing, production, and finance, and will engage consultants as needed.

 

Primary Responsibilities:

 

Development and Fundraising

Develop and execute a comprehensive strategy of financial and resource development; serve as the key development face of the organization; identify new sources of income from individuals, corporations and foundations; establish committees to implement fundraising projects; oversee the execution of foundation and government grant proposals; plan the annual donor campaign and appeals.

 

Marketing

Work collaboratively with the marketing staff and Artistic Director to develop a comprehensive strategy to promote the ensemble on local, national, and international levels; coordinate promotion materials and programs; keep abreast of new marketing technologies; oversee educational outreach.

 

Community Relations

Develop an ongoing relationship with peers in the arts community; represent the ensemble at community functions.

 

Financial Management

Work collaboratively with appropriate staff/consultants to prepare budgets and manage financial operations; manage the business 'office'; work with the treasurer of the Board to prepare the annual organizational budget; help to monitor projections, cash flow and expenses with bookkeeper; comply with all tax regulations and 501c3 compliance.

 

Board of Directors and Board Development

Work directly with the board of directors to build a consistent pipeline of potential board members and leverage board relationships in the community; attend all board and committee meetings; prepare reports and assist the president in developing agendas.

 

Staff, Office, and Planning

Oversee and collaborate with all staff and consultants and work the the Artistic Director on the yearly production calendar; monitor productions; recruit, manage and supervise volunteers and consultants. 

 

Candidate Profile

 

  • A strategic thinker and planner who can work collaboratively to establish and communicate a vision for the company and plan for developing sustainable resources to support it.
  • An inspiring leader with exceptional networking skills and a high energy level for donor cultivation and fundraising.
  • An exceptional manager with strong financial skills in sales and marketing, as well as superb skills in building a management team and creating a positive working environment.
  • An experienced executive who understands the direct shirtsleeves involvement necessary to run a performing arts organization with a small staff on a financially sound basis, and who also understands how to work effectively with a volunteer board.
  • A confident and respected leader who can command the trust of the Board, staff, volunteers and community, and who can represent the company to its audiences, its stakeholder and the public. 
  • A new music advocate, with knowledge of and passion for the art form.

 

Ideal Experience

 

  • Education: This job requires organizational, analytical and communications skills normally acquired through the completion of a bachelor's degree. An advanced degree or professional certification in arts management, business, or other relevant areas would be a valuable addition.
  • Experience: prior experience in managing comparable staff and budget; experience leading a performing arts organization would be ideal. Strong financial management skills are essential.
  • Demonstrated experience in working with a non-profit Board of Trustees.

 

The ideal candidate will be eager to take on the role of the first executive director and to partner with artistic director Donald Nally. He/she will have the entrepreneurial spirit and drive to build a management team and organizational structure that will serve as the foundation and support for this extraordinary ensemble as it continues its rise to prominence in the world of 21st-century choral music.

 

About The Crossing:

 

The Crossing is a premier, internationally recognized choral ensemble known not only for its presentation of contemporary choral music, but also for commissioning and inspiring substantial new works for choirs in the U.S. Founded in 2005 by a group of friends, under its acclaimed artistic director and conductor, Donald Nally, the ensemble works with composers to create new ways for those composers to write, new ways for singers to perform, and new ways for audiences to experience that music. The ensemble focuses on and inspires engagement with environmental and political issues that affect us all. It has both a local and a global outlook. Its goals in the coming years include: continuing to commission works from composers of widely varying cultural, geographical and stylistic backgrounds; recording these commissioned works; touring; and maintaining the compensation of its singers at the highest level in the field.

 

The Crossing has appeared at Disney Hall with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Carnegie Hall and the Winter Garden at Brookfield Place with the American Composers Forum, the Cleveland Museum of Art, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Barnes Foundation, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Gardner Museum in Boston, National Sawdust, the Philadelphia Fringe Festival, the Kennedy Center, the Mostly Mozart Festival and Lincoln Center Out of Doors. Next season the ensemble will appear at the National Gallery in Washington D.C., Northwestern University, and the Ojai Festival.

 

The Crossing is represented by Alliance Artist Management. 

 

The Company:

 

The Crossing presents a home season of at least six programs, culminating in their annual Month of Moderns, a festival of new music featuring three concerts in one month. The annual December concert, The Crossing @ Christmas sells out every year, with over 1000 people hearing it in 2016.

 

The ensemble has an annual residency of two weeks at The Big Sky Conservatory. At The Big Sky Choral Initiative Composing Fellows work with Donald Nally, a prominent composer-in-residence, and members of the ensemble to develop new works. Composer-in-residence have included Gavin Bryars, Ted Hearne, and Gabriel Jackson.

 

While the core group is 24 singers plus the accompanist and conductor, the ensemble regularly appears in groups from as few as three in David Lang's 'lifespan' to as many as 32 in John Luther Adams' Canticles of the Holy Wind, both of which were written for The Crossing.

 

Ensembles with which The Crossing collaborates include: the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the American Composers Orchestra, ICE (International Contemporary Ensemble), eighth blackbird, TILT Brass, JACK Quartet, and the baroque orchestra Quicksilver.

 

The Crossing currently has a 14-member Board of Directors and a budget of $700,000.

With a 2017 GRAMMY nomination, awards from the American Composers Forum and Chorus America, and a growing international profile, the organization requires strong administrative leadership and increased fund-raising.