TheatreWorks’ new govt director readies for group engagement

TheatreWorks Silicon Valley has named a veteran arts administrator as its new govt director.

Debbie Chinn comes to TheatreWorks soon after performing as controlling director for playwright Anna Deavere Smith’s Pipeline Initiatives. Her initial day at TheatreWorks will be Nov. 15, when she’ll be changing Phil Santora, who left TheatreWorks at the stop of July immediately after 15 yrs with the company.

Chinn’s profession in theater administration spans 30 decades. She not too long ago served as the board president of Theatre Bay Location and has previously served on the boards of Theatre Communications Team and Affiliation of California Symphony Orchestras. She is at the moment on the boards of the Chinese Cultural Middle of San Francisco and the San Francisco Neighborhood Audio Centre and is on the Management Council for Countrywide Modest Enterprise Affiliation.

As govt director of Carmel Bach Festival, Chinn not only oversaw the festival’s administrative functions but also curated year-spherical creative and academic packages. As managing director of California Shakespeare Theater, she led Cal Shakes’ $8.5 million funds campaign.

“We sense so lucky to have engaged Debbie at this juncture, refreshing from her vital do the job with Anna Deavere Smith, which motivated Debbie’s deep re-evaluation of the part theater can and should really enjoy in our modern day life,” TheatreWorks board chair Holly Ward mentioned in a assertion. “Her experience in local community developing, as evidenced by her in depth do the job with the Carmel Bach Competition in expanding its arrive at into the close by Salinas Valley, provides us self-confidence that she will supply the outreach we are hunting for to further interact our complete Bay Area local community.”

Outside of California, Chinn has served as the interim director of growth programs for the Philadelphia Orchestra Affiliation and as controlling director of Baltimore Heart Stage, and has labored with Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey. She reported in a statement that she’s satisfied to be working near to dwelling with TheatreWorks.

“Since going to this region in the early 1990s, I have lengthy been aware of TheatreWorks’ steady spirit of artistic innovation and dedication to furnishing a resourceful home for artists, artisans and the better group,” she explained. “This is an exhilarating second for all of us in the arts business as we arrive jointly to structure a whole new model for what it indicates to be a regional theater and a meaningful member of the communities that we serve.”