Kimmel Center Appoints Thor Steingraber as Vice President of Institutional Strategy & Planning and Larae Junior as Vice President of Sales & Marketing
DECEMBER 16, 2010
From left: Junior; Steingraber
Kimmel Center President and CEO Anne Ewers announces the appointment of Thor Steingraber to the position of Vice President of Institutional Strategy & Planning and Larae Junior to the position of Vice President of Sales & Marketing.
Thor Steingraber joins the Kimmel Center executive team following 20 years experience in the performing arts profession. He has directed operas at major venues across America, including Lincoln Center and the Los Angeles Opera, as well as in Asia and Europe. Steingraber also brings a background in arts leadership and management, which extends back to 1990, when he founded an inner-city youth theater program in conjunction with the San Francisco YMCA. From 1993 to 1997, he served as the Director of Production at the Utah Festival Opera, overseeing the planning and growth of the festival and developing a new 40,000-square foot production facility. Last year, Steingraber was the first-ever Arts and Culture Fellow at the Hauser Center for Nonprofit Organizations at Harvard University, and was awarded a Masters in Public Administration from Harvard’s Kennedy School.
Prior to joining the Kimmel Center in 2010, Larae N. Junior’s career included a decade of highly-successful positions with renowned arts organizations including the Durham Arts Council, American Dance Festival, Greensboro Symphony Orchestra and the Celebrity Series of Boston. Ms. Junior earned her Bachelors in Business Administration from North Carolina Central University, her Masters of Business Administration from Simmons School of Management in Boston, Mass., and is a member of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority Inc.
"We are delighted to welcome both Thor and Larae to the Kimmel Center’s senior management team,” said Kimmel Center President and CEO Anne Ewers. “Thor offers invaluable insight to the executive team, bringing career expertise from both the artistic and arts administration arenas. Larae’s sales background and specific expertise in the arts presenting industry will help position the Kimmel Center in the hearts and minds of our community.”
“I welcome the opportunity to work alongside Anne Ewers in setting the vision and pace for an innovative arts organization such as the Kimmel Center,” said Kimmel Center Vice President of Institutional Strategy & Planning Thor Steingraber.
“I am excited to be in the city of Philadelphia!” said Kimmel Center Vice President of Sales & Marketing Larae Junior, “Philly has a vibrant and supported arts environment, and more excitedly is at the crux of redefining the direction of the performing arts in this region. From the approaching Philadelphia International Festival of the Arts to the celebration of the10th anniversary of the Kimmel, I am positive 2011 will be a monumental year for the arts in this city.”
In his new role in Institutional Planning & Strategy, Thor Steingraber oversees government relations, communications, data and research, and fund raising strategy and infrastructure. His recent opera work includes directing Richard Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Barcelona, Spain. In 2010, he was named Distinguished Alumnus at the Indiana University School of Music, his alma mater. He has also attended Oxford University in England, and taught at Yale School of Music and the Curtis Conservatory of Music.
In her new position in Sales & Marketing, Larae Junior will lead the marketing staff to realizing institutional goals, analyze the effectiveness of sales and marketing programs, establish strategic planning goals, create policies and operating procedures, and most importantly she will continue to foster the relationship between the audience and the performing art and between the Kimmel Center and its resident companies. Ms. Junior prides herself on her commitment to the business of the arts. Her previous leadership roles include serving as associate director of marketing and sales for the Celebrity Series of Boston, a venerable and premier multi-million dollar arts presenter in Boston, Mass.
Kimmel Center, Inc., a charitable, not-for-profit organization, owns, manages, supports and maintains The Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, which includes Verizon Hall, Perelman Theater, Innovation Studio and the Merck Arts Education Center. Kimmel Center, Inc. also manages the Academy of Music, owned by the Philadelphia Orchestra Association, and the University of the Arts’ Merriam Theater. Our mission is to operate a world-class performing arts center that engages and serves a broad audience from throughout the Greater Philadelphia region. The 2010/2011 season is sponsored by Citi, and the Broadway 2010/2011 season is sponsored by Verizon, and American Airlines. For additional information, visit kimmelcenter.org.
> index of news releases
> For more information, and to request high resolution images for press use, send us a message online.
