Burlington, Ont. July 24, 2013 – The Burlington Theatre Board has selected Brian McCurdy as the new Executive Director of The Burlington Performing Arts Centre. Mr.McCurdy will assume his new role effective August 19, 2013.
Mr. McCurdy has served as Cultural Director of the City of Kingston, since 2008. In this role he was responsible for overseeing the management of the historic Grand Theatre, city museums, Tett Centre for Creativity and Learning, in addition to municipal cultural planning.
He was also involved in the re-development of the historic Grand Theatre in Kingston which re-opened in the spring of 2008 following a 3-year renovation. Previously, Mr. McCurdy provided management for the Performing Arts Centre, University of Lethbridge; Thunder Bay Community Auditorium, a 1500 seat performing arts centre; and the Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts, University of California.
“This is an important leadership role and we are delighted to have attracted broad interest from top candidates across the country, and beyond.” said Rick Burgess, Theatre Board Chair. “Brian has provided leadership and direction for the planning, construction, opening and ongoing management of performing arts centres, and has extensive programming experience. He has held the position as the first manager of many performing arts centres and therefore understands the complexities and the excitement of an organization in its development stages. As we head into our third season, we are excited to welcome Brian to the team.”
Mr. McCurdy received his Bachelor’s Degree in Music from McGill University in Montreal and his Master’s Degree in Music with a major in arts administration from Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. He also studied arts administration at The Banff Centre, in Alberta, the Leadership Institute at the University of California at Berkeley, and has participated in numerous workshops and seminars on fundraising, board and community development.