Ruth Nott

Experience

Opera Parallèle

2021 - Present
San Francisco, CA

Managing Director

2021 - Present

Interim COO

2021 - 2021
San Francisco, CA

Director of Education

2008 - 2019
Recruited to develop and manage the opera’s first arts education and to support the vision of a new General Director. Built and directed up to 30+ administrative and programming team members, including program managers, administrators, teaching artists, and consultants. Oversaw annual budgets up to $920K. Employed philosophy to create community (families and adults) and school programming that aligned with the mission, increased access to performing arts and arts education, and fueled ongoing health and growth of the company. Developed and began piloting programs within 6 months. Created a portfolio of programming and manages the delivery of up to 20 activations concurrently for a wide range of constituencies: − ARIA (Arts Resources in Action): In-School/Opera House programs serving teachers through professional development as well as K-12/university students through access to artists, arts-creation processes, rehearsals, coaching, and the formation of mentoring relationships. − Community.Understanding.Engagement. (C.U.E.): performances for babies/toddlers, family/adult workshops, “Opera in an Hour” movie screenings, university partnerships, lectures, and symposia. − Gerald (Jerry) P. Rosenstein Arts Project (JRAP): consortium program that, in partnership with SFUSD, provides the city’s youth/teachers access to performing arts instruction; funded by a private donation. Led the integration of emerging media and technology with programming to ensure a relevant approach to education. Collaborated internally with Production, Artistic, Opera Center and Media departments to ensure alignment of growth and community-building strategies across all functions. Formed partnerships with the Carnegie Hall, Lyric Opera of Kansas City, Minnesota Opera, Opera Theatre of St. Louis, Santa Fe Opera, Sarasota Opera, Seattle Opera, San Francisco Conservatory, San Francisco Ballet, and others.
New York, New York

Director of Programs, Education Department

2003 - 2008
Promoted into a leadership role with responsibility for the development and execution of national school-based arts education programs (Creating Original Opera, Music in Education Consortium). Managed multiple program-related budgets as well as a team of administrative staff, curricula experts, teaching artists, interns, and volunteers. Managed the department in an ongoing state of evaluation to ensure alignment with the needs of the opera company and local community. Continued to scale teams and resources as needed to support the guild’s strategic mission. Selected by donor to take over underperforming Urban Voices program administered by another organization. Developed curricula, hired new teaching artists and administrators, and expanded the program into Boston. Created valuable partnerships with the Lincoln Center Institute, New York Philharmonic, Los Angeles Opera, New York City Ballet, New York State Council on the Arts, New York University, and the Mississippi Arts Commission.

Director of Program Development & Special Initiatives

2000 - 2003
Recruited to drive development, launch, and management of multiple arts education partnerships with schools in NY, NJ, and CT. Refreshed the guild’s flagship program, Creating Original Opera. This 10-day teacher training program has served 850+ schools over its 20+-year longevity. Increased the focus on professional development and arts integration. Created a culture that encouraged the retention of teaching artists and other staff in the midst of organizational change. Negotiated initial teaching artist union contract with Local 802, American Federation of Musicians.
New York, NY

Program Administrator, Education & Community Service

1996 - 2000
Drew upon a program management and student services background in overseeing the delivery of various customized arts education programs for area schools.

Biography

Ruth Nott

Natural Leader, Connector & Catalyst with a standout record of success in bringing together the right strategic alliances/partnerships, departmental infrastructure, metrics, and high-impact programming with a commitment to service excellence to drive each organization’s mission. THE SOUNDBYTES: Blends strategy with reliable instincts and goal-focused execution to move critical growth and outreach initiatives forward. Engaged and enterprising team builder with a passion for creating breakthrough programs that deliver impact and increase access to services/resources. Voice of the community who takes on new challenges, defines the short-/long-term strategic agenda, anticipates emerging issues, simplifies the complex, increases awareness, gains access to key decision makers, influences perspective to benefit the organization's interests and needs, and drives alignment across functions. Inspires teams to produce meaningful work within aggressive timelines and strict budget constraints. Creates cultures where mutual respect, diversity and inclusion, integrity, and transparency are expected while cooperation, creativity, fresh insights, and goal-centered contribution are encouraged. Motivated by the opportunity to influence the development of future leaders.