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JUST ANNOUNCED: @KimmelCenter President & CEO Anne Ewers’ contract extended through 2019-20 season. Read more at kimmelcenter.org
Press Contact:
Amanda Conte
215-790-5847
aconte@kimmelcenter.org
KIMMEL CENTER BOARD OF DIRECTORS EXTENDS CONTRACT OF PRESIDENT & CEO ANNE EWERS THROUGH 2019-20 SEASON
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE (Philadelphia, PA, July 14, 2016) — David Holveck, Chairperson of the Board of Directors of Kimmel Center, Inc., announces the contract extension of Anne Ewers, President & CEO of Kimmel Center Inc., through the 2019-20 season. The Board unanimously voted to extend Ewers’ contract crediting her creative artistic leadership and the Center’s strong financial stability throughout her tenure.
“Since coming to the Kimmel Center in 2007, Anne Ewers has strategically positioned us as the most dynamic and impactful performing arts center in the region,” said David Holveck, Chairman of the Kimmel Center Board of Directors. “We are the second largest in the country behind Lincoln Center…and the second most impactful per capita behind the Kennedy Center. Anne Ewers has a vibrant energy and dynamic approach to running an organization that serves the broad and diverse communities that make up our city. She is an accomplished artistic leader who has spent her entire career in the performing arts, an excellent fundraiser, and a skillful administrator who knows what it takes to put important art on the stages of this Campus. Together with our board and our excellent staff, she will continue to grow upon and expand the Kimmel Center’s reputation for excellence.”
In addition to establishing the biennial city-wide festival, The Philadelphia International Festival of the Arts (PIFA), Ms. Ewers is also credited with leading and directing the incubation of new works of art through the Kimmel Center’s Jazz and Theater Residencies. Ms. Ewers also placed a renewed focus on arts education, helping the Kimmel Center to inspire the next generation of artists and art lovers through programs like Sound Check, which gives students unprecedented access to world class performers. Also, under Ms. Ewers’ leadership, The Kimmel Center has worked to develop a unified campus message and state of the art venues and support facilities for its eight Resident Companies: The Philadelphia Orchestra, Opera Philadelphia, The Pennsylvania Ballet, The Philly Pops, The Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, The Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, Philadanco, and The Curtis Institute of Music.
In her first year at the helm of the Kimmel Center, Ms. Ewers - an experienced and gifted fundraiser - retired the Center's $30-million construction debt, raised the endowment from $40 million to $72 million, and garnered $10 million dollars to establish PIFA. Ms. Ewers has also developed a Master Plan for which $14 million has been raised to improve Verizon Hall acoustics, renovate Hamilton Garden and SEI Innovation Studio, and open Volvér with famed iron chef Jose Garces.
Prior to coming to The Kimmel Center, Anne Ewers assumed the role of President & CEO of 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, found 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 served as General Director of Utah Opera. During her tenure, 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 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 an assistant stage director at San Francisco Opera.
An accomplished opera stage director, she made her main stage debut with San Francisco Opera in 1988-89 directing La Gioconda. Other artistic highlights include her direction of Wagner's Ring Cycle performed in Boston and New York for Boston Lyric Opera. Over the course of her career, Ms. Ewers directed more than 60 opera productions ranging from Poulenc’s Dialogues of the Carmelites to Verdi’s Macbeth to Handel’s Agrippina for companies across the US and Canada.
Active in her community and in several professional organizations, Ms. Ewers serves on the Board of the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce, the Board of the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance and is a member of the Philadelphia Women's Forum. She recently completed 6 years of service on the Executive Committee of the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce. Ms. Ewers is also a frequent panelist for the National Endowment for the Arts.
Ms. Ewers has a Bachelor of Arts in Theatre and Bachelor of Music from Fontbonne University (1974) and a Master of Music in opera production from the University of Texas at Austin (1977).
Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts
Located in the heart of Center City, Philadelphia, The Kimmel Center’s mission is to operate a world-class performing arts center that engages and serves a broad audience through diverse programming, arts education, and community outreach. The Kimmel Center campus is comprised of the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts (Verizon Hall, Perelman Theater, SEI Innovation Studio, and the Merck Arts Education Center), the Academy of Music (owned by the Philadelphia Orchestra Association), and the University of the Arts’ Merriam Theater. The Kimmel Center is also home to eight Resident Companies: The Philadelphia Orchestra, Opera Philadelphia, The Pennsylvania Ballet, The Philly Pops, PHILADANCO, The Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, The Philadelphia Chamber Music Society and Curtis Institute of Music. TD Bank, America’s Most Convenient Bank, is the season sponsor of the Kimmel Center’s 2015-2016 Season. American Airlines is the official airline of Broadway Philadelphia. For additional information, visit kimmelcenter.org.
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