POSITION DESCRIPTION
August 2010
General Manager for Concerts and Lectures
BACKGROUND
The Concerts and Lectures department of The Metropolitan Museum of Art was established in
1954 and has presented a wide range of programming, including lectures on art and culture,
musical performances, poetry readings and films, among other offerings. Performances take
place primarily in the Museum’s 700-seat Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium, and also in the
Medieval Court, the Temple of Dendur in the Sackler Wing, and on occasion in other galleries.
Subscription and single tickets are available for a fee to the public.
The General Manager for Concerts and Lectures is responsible, along with senior colleagues in
the department, for the planning and programming of two performance seasons each year, with a
total annual departmental operating budget of approximately $2.5 million and a staff of
approximately nine full-time and 37 part-time employees.
The General Manager will articulate a dynamic and engaging programmatic strategy and
structure and bring together the talents and resources necessary to ensure that the department’s
offerings complement and are reflective of the Museum’s exhibitions and collections. The
General Manager, who will provide the leadership, direction and management necessary to take
Concerts and Lectures to its fullest potential, has overall responsibility for department activities,
such as personnel management, budgeting, marketing, meeting with donors, and working
collaboratively with departments and individuals throughout the Museum, as well as with the
Friends of Concerts and Lectures, an important support group.
The General Manager reports to the Chairman for Education. Other key relationships are with
the Director and Chief Executive Officer; the President; the Senior Vice President for External
Affairs; the Vice President for Development and Membership; curatorial departments; and the
Planning and Budget department. The General Manager will engender the trust of the senior
leadership of the Museum, working collaboratively and collegially throughout the institution in
order to ensure that Concerts and Lectures programming is of the highest quality, and is seen by
audience members and internal and external stakeholders as an integral and exciting component
of the Metropolitan Museum’s mission.
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General Manager for Concerts and Lectures
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PRIORITIES AND KEY RESPONSIBILITES
The General Manager will provide strategic leadership and creative thinking as the Museum
redefines the role of the Concerts and Lectures department to raise its profile within New York
City, while at the same time integrating it more fully into the institution and developing a
program uniquely suited to the Museum. Key responsibilities include:

Conceiving of programs that support the Museum’s mission of fostering appreciation and
understanding of art by closely connecting both performance and spoken word events to the
full range of the Museum’s encyclopedic collections and exhibitions;

Developing an innovative and cohesive array of spoken word programs as well as musical
offerings that are consistent in quality, scope, and distinctiveness; additionally, exploring
innovative and creative uses of galleries and public areas in and around the Museum as
performance spaces;

Offering programming that will attract new audiences, including a diverse range of
communities in New York City; expanding programs for families and children;

Fostering the talent of the staff of the Concerts and Lectures department and providing
additional opportunities for their professional development; ensuring that appropriate staffing
levels are reflective of current programming needs;

Collaborating closely with the Museum educators responsible for educational programming
(offered at no charge beyond the cost of pay-as-you-wish admission) to ensure that programs
developed by each department complement one another and enhance the visitor’s experience;

Continuing to expand and enhance Concerts and Lectures marketing, public relations and
branding efforts; identifying the best promotional vehicles and outreach strategies for new
audiences; maximizing the use of technology; identifying new program/content delivery
opportunities in order to reach a wider and more diverse audience;

Establishing strong relationships and negotiating with agents, artists, promoters and
managers to ensure optimal financial and program arrangements; understanding the
competition in the marketplace; knowing what sells and draws audiences;

Spearheading and establishing partnerships or other relationships with New York City’s
cultural institutions to co-organize programs where appropriate, to cross-promote offerings
and to develop new audiences;

Working with the Development department to raise funds to support Concerts and Lectures,
and promote rentals of the Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium to for-profit and not-for-profit
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General Manager for Concerts and Lectures
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organizations;

Strategically analyzing the profit/loss potential of individual programs to ensure achievement
of annual revenue targets within a self-sustaining, mission-driven program.
EXPERIENCE AND QUALIFICATIONS
The successful candidate must be a highly creative, analytical and visionary leader/manager with
an intuitive business sense, who will have the following experience and characteristics:

Demonstrated leadership experience and seasoned management skills, with a track record in
supervising people, operations and budgets for an institution known for excellence in the arts
and/or education with a strong community outreach component;

Significant experience in developing, presenting and executing substantive musical and
spoken word programs or series incorporating multiple perspectives and genres. Proven
track record of dynamic and well-balanced programming that attracts and engages diverse
audiences, and is financially viable; proven success in implementing a long-range vision and
securing buy-in from diverse internal and external constituencies;

Experience working with and negotiating performers’ contracts, including a solid
understanding of emerging and traditional artists and the agent and management
communities;

Personal experience working broadly with musical and literary artists, and academics and
other speakers, both within and beyond the realm of Concerts and Lectures’ traditional talent
resources and roster of previous programming;

A successful track record of effective staff management – motivating and encouraging a
diverse group of talented and creative individuals;

Possess exceptional external and internal relationship-building skills, along with a strong
customer- and community-focused mentality; familiarity and experience with cultivating
individual donors would be a plus;

Excellent oral and written communication skills coupled with problem-solving experience;
the ability to make thoughtful, clear, knowledgeable presentations and serve as a compelling
representative of the Met, internally and externally, to a wide range of stakeholders.
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PERSONAL ATTRIBUTES
The General Manager should be intellectually curious, able to seamlessly engage with the
curators, educators and other professional colleagues at the Met. Additionally, the successful
candidate should have or be the following:

Committed to and enthusiastic about the mission and programs of the Museum; with a broad
appreciation of, credibility in, and passion for the performing arts and the spoken word;

Outstanding interpersonal skills; able to build and maintain effective working relationships,
with the energy and dynamism to inspire others;

Politically astute with strong negotiation and diplomatic skills;

An intelligent and articulate self-starter and finisher who is creative, energetic and
entrepreneurial, yet collaborative and team-oriented;

A strategist who is adept at planning, prioritizing, organizing and following through;

Emotionally mature with a sense of humor and the sensitivity to work with a group of diverse
personalities.
Please send applications and nominations to Mark Tarnacki and Becky Klein at:
MetMuseum@PhillipsOppenheim.com
Metropolitan Museum of Art
August 2010