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[Michael M. Kaiser President of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.] [Photo of Michael Kaiser.]

[Photo of the Kirov Ballet.]

View video excerpts from Michael Kaiser's PBS interview with Jim Lehrer.

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Listen to the complete interview.

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Read Michael Kaiser's article "How to Save the Performing Arts."
Originally featured in the Washington Post.
Michael M. Kaiser, President of the John F. Kennedy Center, is responsible for the artistic programming and financial health of the organization. Under Kaiser, the nation's center for the performing arts is increasing its already broad educational efforts and establishing cross-disciplinary programming with opera, symphony, and dance. Kaiser has established the Vilar Institute for Arts Management and arranged for 10 annual visits from both the ballet and opera companies of St. Petersburg, Russia's Kirov/Mariinsky Theater, which began in 2002. The unprecedented Sondheim Celebration, with six productions of Stephen Sondheim's works during the summer of 2002, the exclusive United States presentation of the Bolshoi Ballet and Opera on a single stage, and a five-year annual commitment of visits from London's Royal Shakespeare Company are among Kaiser's programs. Kaiser has planned multidisciplinary festivals celebrating composer P.I. Tchaikovsky (winter 2003), the arts of France (winter and spring 2003), and a festival presenting works of playwright Tennessee Williams (summer 2004). Beginning in January 2005, Kaiser will present A New America: The 1940s and the Arts , a Center-wide, in-depth celebration of the music, dance, theater, and film produced by the remarkable American artists who lived and worked in this decade. He also works closely with the National Symphony Orchestra's Music Director Leonard Slatkin and the Board of Directors to provide leadership for an orchestra of renown in its own right, and as a prized partner in Kennedy Center activities. He arranged, in conjunction with the U.S. State Department, the historic concert in December of 2003 at the Kennedy Center of the Iraqi National Symphony Orchestra with the National Symphony Orchestra.

As part of Mr. Kaiser's art management program, he has created the Capacity Building Program for Culturally Specific Arts Organizations, which currently involves 30 African American, Latino, Asian American and Native American arts groups from around the United States. This program focuses on strategic planning, management concerns and fundraising for these institutions. Mr. Kaiser is also a Cultural Ambassador for the State Department's CultureConnect program. He is advising performing arts organizations around the world on building institutional strength through marketing, strategic planning and fundraising. He currently is working with Mexico and Iraq.

Mr. Kaiser previously served as the Executive Director of the Royal Opera House, the largest performing arts organization in the United Kingdom with an annual operating budget of £50 million ($80 million). During his tenure with the Royal Opera House, that organization erased its historic accumulated deficit of £19 million, completed a £214 million redevelopment of the facility, created a £20 million endowment fund, and greatly increased its level of support from the private and public sectors. In addition to performances of opera and ballet in its main auditorium, the Royal Opera House now offers a full calendar of educational programs, numerous performances of chamber and new works in its 450-seat Linbury Studio Theatre, a series of experimental works in its Clore Studio, daily backstage tours, and guest appearances by more than 30 arts organizations, including an eight-week season by the Kirov Opera and Ballet. In addition, Royal Opera House programming is now available to the widest international audience in its history. Performances are broadcast regularly on the BBC, an unprecedented relationship with the venerable broadcast organization that brings a substantial number of performances, master classes, and other programming to the BBC world-wide network.

Prior to joining the Royal Opera House, Mr. Kaiser was Executive Director of American Ballet Theatre. During his three-year tenure at ABT, Mr. Kaiser erased the entire historic accumulated deficit, created a second company, greatly expanded national and international touring activity, increased contributed and earned income substantially, and built an acclaimed series of education programs.

Mr. Kaiser has also served as Executive Director of the Alvin Ailey Dance Theater Foundation, the world's largest modern dance organization. During his tenure, the Ailey company erased its accumulated deficit, expanded its school, and increased all forms of revenue. He has also served as Associate Director of the Pierpont Morgan Library where he initiated a major building expansion, and as General Manager of the Kansas City Ballet, he erased the company's deficit.

As a consultant to a variety of arts organizations Mr. Kaiser advised such institutions as The Jewish Museum, the Market Theatre (Johannesburg), Detroit Symphony, Glimmerglass Opera, and many others. He also represented the United States on a commission that established the Arts Council of the Republic of South Africa.

Before entering the arts management field, Mr. Kaiser was a management consultant in the corporate sector. In 1985, he sold the consulting firm he founded, Kaiser Associates, which specializes in helping large corporations formulate strategic plans. Among his clients were General Motors, IBM, Corning Glass Works and 50 other major corporations. Kaiser Associates remains a major participant in the strategy-consulting field.

Mr. Kaiser has served as a research economist for Nobel prize-winning economist, Wassily Leontief, and is the author of three books: Strategic Planning in the Arts: A Practical Guide (1995); Developing Industry Strategies: A Practical Guide of Industry Analysis (1983), and Understanding the Competition: A Practical Guide of Competitive Analysis (1981). Mr. Kaiser received his Master's degree in Management from M.I.T.'s Sloan School of Management and his Bachelor's degree in Economics, Magna Cum Laude, from Brandeis University. He has been an Adjunct Professor of Arts Administration at New York University, and a Lecturer at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg.

April 12, 2004

 


 

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