Five exceptional leaders from arts and cultural organizations within our Tessitura Network community have made Musical America’s “30 Professionals of the Year” list for 2017.

The prestigious list pays tribute to “the people redefining and driving the performing arts towards a future shaped by their vision.” Honorees are nominated by industry peers. Movers and shapers from the Tessitura community are:

• Douglas Beck, Director, Artist Training Programs, Weill Music Institute, Carnegie Hall 
• Annie Burridge, General Director & CEO, Austin Opera
• Paul Crewes, Artistic Director, Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts
• Elena Dubinets, Vice President of Artistic Planning, Seattle Symphony
• Joan Squires, President, Omaha Performing Arts 

Susan Elliott, Musical America’s Editor, Special Reports says that this year’s annual tributes are dedicated to the professionals who keep the business of the performing arts in top physical and artistic shape. “These are the individuals who are actually 'shaping' programs, practices, and perceptions of the performing artists,” she says.

The winner of the overall “Mover and Shaper” award is Peggy Kriha Dye, General and Artistic Director of Opera Columbus.

A two-time presenter in Tessitura’s Innovator Series, Annie Burridge (pictured above) has been the driving force behind much institutional and artistic innovation in the opera sector. In her talk "Embracing Innovation by Partnering for Success", delivered live to 1,800-plus arts & cultural professionals at the Tessitura Learning & Community Conference 2016, she challenged listeners to define their organization’s “rallying cry around their purpose” and their promise, in order to achieve resiliency, fortitude and grit to navigate all the “unknown opportunities” that would come their way. Her 2014 talk "What’s In a Name?" tells the story of the rebranding of Opera Philadelphia during her tenure there as Senior Vice President of Institutional Advancement. 

Read more about the careers and achievements of the "30 Professionals of the Year" at Musical America. Download the full report in PDF form here.

Top photo: Annie Burridge at TLCC2016. Photo by Joseph Ellis