Kimmel Center Inc. Appoints Anne Ewers President and CEO
May 15, 2007
Anne Ewers
William P. Hankowsky, chairman of the board of the Kimmel Center Inc., today announced that Anne Ewers has been appointed president and chief executive officer. Ms. Ewers is currently president and chief executive officer of Utah Symphony & Opera. She is expected to take up her new responsibilities on July 9, 2007.
"Anne Ewers has an indefatigable spirit and enormous energy. She is also an accomplished artistic director who has spent her entire career in the performing arts. She is an excellent fundraiser and a skillful administrator who knows what it takes to put great art on the stage. Together with our board and our excellent staff, she will continue to expand the Kimmel Center’s reputation for excellence," said Mr. Hankowsky. "I am grateful to and thank Natalye Paquin who has served as interim president for the past 10 months. Her leadership has been a steadying force during this transition. I must also thank Paul Tufano and the entire search committee for their outstanding and hard work."
Ms. Ewers’ many accomplishments include doubling the Utah Symphony & Opera’s endowment, turning the combined organizations’ deficit into a surplus, netting the first recording contract for the symphony in 15 years, producing the symphony’s first European tour in 19 years and launching a major summer performing arts festival.
"In just five short years the Kimmel Center has established itself as a world-class performing arts center and as an important economic catalyst for the Philadelphia region as well," said Anne Ewers. "I am honored to be part of the Center's next stage of growth and development; to work closely with its board, its resident companies, its professional staff and the community as we move forward together."
Anne Ewers became president and chief executive officer of the Utah Symphony & Opera in July 2002 following the merger of the two performing arts organizations. During her tenure, she doubled the organization’s endowment from $18 million to $36 million, turned a structural deficit of $1.8 million into a $360,000 surplus, founded the Deer Valley Music Festival which generates $1.9 million annually, launched the symphony on its first European tour in 19 years netting $850,000 and recorded the symphony’s first CD in 15 years.
From 1991-2002, she was general director of Utah Opera. She successfully increased the Opera’s budget from $1.5 million to $5 million, grew the subscription base by 20 percent, expanded the seasonal repertoire from three to four main stage productions and surpassed two capital campaign goals raising more than $8 million.
Prior to joining Utah Opera, Ms. Ewers’ positions included general director of the Boston Lyric Opera from 1984-1989 where she retired a $450,000 deficit, built an endowment fund and added two main stage productions. From 1979-1981 she was assistant stage director at San Francisco Opera.
An accomplished opera stage director, Ms. Ewers’ most recent stage productions include Kurt Weill’s The Seven Deadly Sins of the Petite Bourgeoisie in 2002-03 and Schoenberg’s Pierrot Lunaire in 2004-05. Both were directed for Utah Symphony & Opera. She made her main stage debut with the San Francisco Opera in 1988-89 directing La Gioconda. Other artistic highlights include her direction of Wagner’s Ring performed in Boston and New York for the Boston Lyric Opera as well as the direction of more than 60 other opera productions over the course of her career.
Active in her community and in several professional organizations, Ms. Ewers is a board member of OPERA America and on the board of advisors for Opera Boston and Organic Theatre Company (Chicago). She is also a frequent panelist for the National Endowment for the Arts.
Always an avid lover of the performing arts, Ms. Ewers grew up in Ottawa, Illinois listening to the Metropolitan Opera Saturday Afternoon Broadcast on her parents’ radio. According to published accounts, by age six she was directing siblings and neighbors in plays that she staged in the family garage. At age 16, she won a regional music contest by singing an aria from "Madame Butterfly."
Ms. Ewers has a Bachelor of Arts in theatre and Bachelor of Music from Fontbonne College (1974) and a Master of Music in opera production from the University of Texas at Austin (1977).
The search committee for the new president and chief executive officer was led by Kimmel Center Board Secretary Paul Tufano with the assistance of George Burrell; Catherine R. Clifton; Harold A. Honickman; Lawrence J. Kent; Leslie Anne Miller; Hon. Marjorie O. Rendell; George M. Ross; and Carole P. Shanis. The committee was assisted in the search by Korn Ferry International.
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. The Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts and the Academy of Music serve as home to eight Resident Company performing arts organizations, including The Philadelphia Orchestra, Opera Company of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Ballet, Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, American Theater Arts for Youth, PHILADANCO, Philadelphia Chamber Music Society and Peter Nero and the Philly Pops®. Kimmel Center, Inc.’s mission also includes arts in education, community outreach and a rich diversity of programming through its Kimmel Center Presents and Cadillac Broadway Series of performances.
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