Management Consultants for the Arts Selected by Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre to Find New Leader

May 10, 2022 – Stamford, Conn-based executive search firm Management Consultants for the Arts has been called in by the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre (PBT) to lead its search for a new executive director. The assignment is being spearheaded by David Mallette, Jason Palmquist, and Shruti Adhar.

Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre wants a collaborative and engaged organizational leader to build on its strong financial foundation and to guide it into a new era of imagining what a ballet organization can be. The executive director will work in a co-CEO relationship with the artistic director with both positions reporting to, and working collaboratively with, the board. It is critically important that the individuals in these two positions work in a cohesive and productive manner.

The chosen candidate will be someone who is likely to establish strong and productive working partnerships with the artistic director and the board, said Management Consultants for the Arts. Prior experience with such partnerships is essential.

Successful candidates must also have the following skill-sets and experience:

• Strong passion for building a great cultural institution fully rooted in its community.
• Demonstrated success in personally securing philanthropic support in a not-for-profit arts environment.
• Knowledgeable about organizational routines and processes.
• A commitment to IDEA (inclusion, diversity, equity, and accessibility), evidenced in current and previous leadership roles.

According to the search firm, the right individual for this role will be passionate about what the arts generally, and ballet in particular, can mean to individuals and to a community. In public, he or she must be a tireless advocate and fundraiser for PBT’s mission and vision with philanthropic supporters, public officials, business leaders, and community partners. Within the organization, the individual must develop and empower dynamic teams. They are also expected to build upon, evaluate, and improve current structures and processes to ensure better service to the organization’s audiences, students, partners, and patrons, and better work experiences for PBT’s staff.

For 52 years, Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre has fulfilled its mission to be: “Pittsburgh’s source and ambassador for extraordinary ballet experiences that give life to the classical tradition, nurture new ideas and, above all, inspire.”

Serving Arts Organizations

Since 1983, Management Consultants for the Arts has been deeply involved with arts and cultural organizations of all types and sizes throughout the country, including theaters, museums, music and dance companies, performing arts centers, science centers, historical societies, colleges and universities, service organizations, public agencies, arts councils, and foundations. The firm’s services include consultations in executive search for senior-level leadership, planning, organizational analysis, board and staff retreats, seminar and workshop development, and facilitation.

Gregory Kandel, the search firm’s founding partner, has spent many years in arts management, both in the field and as a consultant to dance companies, theaters, orchestras and other performing arts organizations. He has served a diverse group of clients throughout the cultural community and assisted a number of them as a National Endowment for the Arts advancement consultant.

As a faculty member at Yale University and guest lecturer at other academic institutions, Mr. Kandel has emphasized the special roles that artists and managers must play collectively in running arts organizations, as well as the governance necessary to make their work successful on behalf of the arts organization.

Mr. Mallette joined Management Consultants for the Arts in 2005 as an associate after working for more than two decades as a performing arts administrator in theatre and dance.  His background and skills bring together a unique blend of organizational leadership, production experience, creative innovation, and business acumen. He became a partner in 2015.

Mr. Palmquist has been working as an associate consultant with Management Consultants for the Arts since 2015. From 2007 to 2017, he served as executive director of Hubbard Street Dance Chicago.

An accomplished executive with demonstrated success in the non-profit sector, Mr. Adhar has a track record in grantmaking, fundraising, management, and program development. Prior to joining Management Consultants for the Arts in 2019, he served as executive director of The Knights, a Grammy-nominated chamber orchestra.

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Contributed by Scott A. Scanlon, Editor-in-Chief; Dale M. Zupsansky, Managing Editor; and Stephen Sawicki, Managing Editor  – Hunt Scanlon Media