San Francisco Ballet Board of Trustees has named Kelly Tweeddale as the organization’s next Executive Director. The search committee, led by Chair of the SF Ballet Board of Trustees Carl F. Pascarella, made the unanimous recommendation to the Board after a five-month international search. Tweeddale has held previous executive positions at Seattle Opera and currently serves as President of Vancouver Symphony and VSO School of Music. Kelly Tweeddale assumes her new role at San Francisco Ballet on September 3, 2019.
“We are extremely fortunate to have Kelly joining the Ballet in this critical role. Her vision and track record in leading major strategic projects that propels arts organizations into a future with growing audiences, community involvement, and sustained revenue will lead SF Ballet into an expanded era of financial and operational growth,” says Pascarella. “On behalf of the Board of Trustees I sincerely welcome Kelly to join us in furthering our mission, to share the joy of dance with the widest possible audience, to provide the highest caliber of dance training in our School, and to further our commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusivity in the field of dance.”
Speaking from the Company’s current engagement at Sadler’s Wells in London, Artistic Director and Principal Choreographer Helgi Tomasson shared: “I am very pleased to welcome Kelly to San Francisco Ballet. She brings an impressive caliber of arts leadership experience to oversee the administrative and operational aspects of the organization.” Tomasson added, “I look forward to working closely with her as we continue to grow the mission and artistic reputation of the Company.”
“I am thrilled to be joining San Francisco Ballet, having long admired its artistic achievements and its exemplary role in pushing the boundaries in dance. Helgi’s commitment to excellence and the Company’s reputation as an international ambassador of San Francisco’s diverse and forward-thinking community resonate with my belief that the arts have never had a more important mandate than to create connections between people and ideas both locally and globally,” said Tweeddale. “I look forward to working with the Board of Trustees, Helgi and the Artistic team, the Company, the Administrative Staff, and all of Company’s dedicated supporters, to lead the organization into its next chapter of growth. I am also looking forward to working collaboratively with San Francisco’s dynamic arts community because as we all know, a thriving arts community is the bellwether of a great city.”
Tweeddale replaces Glenn McCoy, who retires at the end of this month after a 32-year career with the Company.