Marcus Performing Arts Center picks a new CEO with Washington experience, Marquette roots
The Marcus Performing Arts Center has selected a new CEO who's had leadership roles at Washington's Kennedy Center and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.
But Kevin Giglinto, 57, is also a 1987 Marquette University graduate. That Milwaukee connection was a factor both in his decision to take the MPAC job and in the arts center board's decision to hire him.
His 35th college reunion last summer led him to reflect on how much the city has changed, and how the arts have been a big part of that.
"The opportunity to do what I've been doing for 25 years, which is really building diverse audiences for a wide range of performing arts experiences, to do that at a place in a city that means a lot to me was really powerful," Giglinto said during an interview Monday.
Giglinto succeeds Kendra Whitlock Ingram, who left in January to become president and CEO of The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust. He will officially assume his duties as president and CEO on July 25. Scheduled MPAC events high on his personal list include the inflatable art installation "Evanescent" July 18-22, and a Dance Theatre of Harlem performance on Feb. 14, 2024.
Ingram, MPAC's first Black president and CEO, made racial equity, diversity and inclusion a priority in programming, staff composition, even the recruitment of volunteers. Giglinto sounds poised to continue on that path, particularly when it comes to attracting audiences.
"All performing arts centers need to reflect the cultural values and the artistic voices of the entirety of the community that we serve," he said.
In citing reasons why the MPAC board chose Giglinto, board chairman Ray Wilson pointed to Giglinto's work attracting new audiences to the Kennedy Center.
"We just felt like, from a strategic perspective, Kevin was a perfect successor to Kendra and all the great things she started, and he's going to be able to take the next step and move us forward," he said.
At the Kennedy Center, where Giglinto is senior vice president for marketing and chief strategy officer, he played a key role in developing and launching The REACH, which transformed a former parking lot for buses into a multi-acre green space with three pavilions for indoor and outdoor performances, workshops and events, many emphasizing audience participation.
As MPAC leader Giglinto will shepherd an institution that is still working out how to fill dates in Uihlein Hall formerly occupied by the Milwaukee Symphony, which opened its own concert hall a few years ago. Board chairman Wilson said that MPAC's Broadway series is doing well; there's room for audience growth in the center's non-Broadway performance offerings.
"People have so many choices these days about how to spend their dollars," Wilson said. "We just have to make sure that we are bringing these people back."
The life experience Giglinto brings to Milwaukee includes two years in Romania from 1994 to 1996 as a business development volunteer. What does he retain from that experience?
"Empathy," he said. "Really opening your eyes and ears to other people's perspectives. I had to learn more patience than I had before I went in. And how to, you know, stay calm in the midst of a rather unknown world."
Giglinto is a native of Hackensack, N.J. He has an MBA from Chicago's Loyola University.
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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Marcus Performing Arts Center picks a new CEO with Milwaukee roots
