Director of Marketing and Communications

Brevard Music Center seeks a marketing and communications professional to maximize ticket sales revenue, create brand awareness, engage with audiences and diverse ticket buyers, increase student applications, and promote the new lakeside performance and multi-purpose event space. 

Founded in 1936 and situated in western North Carolina, Brevard Music Center stands as one of this country's premier summer training programs and festivals. More than 500 gifted students, ranging from high school through post-collegiate, come to the Music Center every summer to study with a distinguished faculty of over 80 artists from the nation's leading orchestras, colleges, and conservatories. President and CEO Mark Weinstein and Artistic Director Keith Lockhart lead the Brevard Music Center's Institute and Festival. 

BACKGROUND

For twelve weeks each summer, the next generation of musicians from around the globe gather in the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina to perform alongside a distinguished faculty from major symphonies, universities, and conservatories. From June through August, students participate in a rigorous program of instruction and performance, including orchestral ensembles, private lessons, chamber music, opera, classical guitar, and jazz. For decades the Brevard Music Center has inspired devotion not only among its students and faculty but also among its listeners and a vast corps of volunteers. Hundreds of people have purchased homes in western North Carolina expressly to be near the Brevard Music Center. The City of Brevard is a community of 7,700 with a vibrant arts scene located less than an hour from two other great arts meccas, Greenville to the south and Asheville to the north.

The Parker Concert Hall is BMC's first-ever year-round performance venue and the first multi- purpose event space built since Whittington-Pfohl Auditorium in 1964. The new Parker Hall serves as the summer home of BMC's growing piano, chamber music, classical guitar, and jazz programs. Featuring excellent acoustics and a seating capacity of 400, the hall's flexible seating system allows it to be transformed into a multi-purpose space that will also serve as a dramatic, natural setting for year-round performances, special events, lecture series, weddings, and business meetings that enrich residents’ lives and drive dollars to local businesses in the region. Catering and banquet options are available for up to 250 individuals. 

BMC has an annual operating budget of $6 million, with $3 million (50%) coming from ticket sales and tuition. BMC is led by a 25-member Board of Trustees and 18 full-time and part-time seasonal staff.

BASIC FUNCTION

Reporting to the President and CEO, the Director of Marketing and Communications will lead a department responsible for all ticket sales, summer institute materials, print and social media materials, and rental income for the new Parker Concert Hall. The new leader will be a mission-driven arts marketing and communications professional who embraces the mission, artistic vision, and core values of BMC. He/She/They should be an energetic strategic and creative thinker and possess a high level of emotional intelligence. The candidate should be a results-oriented individual capable of leading a full-time professional box office and ticketing department that includes a full-time Manager, 4 to 5 part-time box office staff, seasonal interns, and a contracted marketing agency. The Director manages both institutional and programmatic marketing efforts, including annually supporting 100 performances and events at the Whittington-Pfohl Auditorium, Straus Auditorium, and the Parker Concert Hall. 

The Director of Marketing & Communications is a key member of the senior leadership team responsible for leading programmatic and institutional marketing efforts. He/She/They will work collaboratively with the rest of the senior leadership team to identify opportunities and build strategies to grow capacity, focusing on sustaining the current audience, growing a new audience, and creating visibility and awareness throughout the region. 

  • The Marketing function will develop and lead the implementation plan, including oversight of advertising, publications, content creation, social media, and promotions.
  • The Communications function is responsible for the in-house press communications, news releases, publicist functions, relationships with key media influencers and outlets for arts-related stories.

In service of these goals the Director of Marketing & Communications should be an energetic, strategic, and creative thinker, deeply committed to emotionally resonant storytelling in line with the art form of classical, jazz, and popular music. The candidate should possess superior written and verbal skills and be able to write compellingly about all kinds of music. 

The Director of Marketing and Communications is responsible for continually evolving the Brevard Music Center's brand identity through building strategic, diverse, and inclusive relationships while creating a voice to share BMC's story and values. This position applies key elements of creativity, art, and editorial direction to all aspects of the marketing department and works to provide communication for all program areas at BMC. 

PRIORITIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

The Director of Marketing and Communications will be expected to achieve these goals and oversee these responsibilities: 

  • Supervise the marketing team and lead them in achieving goals and completing critical tasks.
  • Provide the President and CEO with financial analysis, reporting, budgets, and forecasts for all marketing expense activities (i.e., advertising, printing, web and so on).
  • Work collaboratively with a cross-departmental team to develop pricing strategies, create tickets sales and rental income projections, and manage inventory.
  • Oversee institutional marketing and public relations, focusing on long-term audience development; meet printing and planning deadlines; increase public awareness of the company's community and industry impact; support strengthened relationships between Brevard Music Center and patrons, donors, board members, and other key stakeholders.
  • Responsible for researching, planning, implementing, and developing group sales and actively prospecting cultural tours within the region.
  • Strengthen Brevard Music Center's existing brand identity, solidify written and visual communication standards, set the tone for messaging, and ensure brand consistency across the organization.
  • Support BMC’s mission and vision to engage new and diverse audiences by continuously analyzing changing demographics, refining target markets, and creating relevant to increase Brevard Music Center's awareness in diverse communities throughout the region.
  • Manage Brevard Music Center's media relations strategy, building relationships with local and national media outlets and journalists to ensure continued press coverage.
    Organize promotional activities such as appearances by artists at public events to raise awareness of BMC with the general public.
  • Generate partnerships with other arts and cultural institutions throughout the Western North Carolina area for collaborative promotional and audience development programs.
  • Oversee the process of design, copy creation, and technical work for all department deliverables from inception to final approvals, with the support of the Multimedia Producer and outside contractors.
  • Supplement dwindling arts coverage in local media outlets with strategic, inhouse editorial content—including video, photo, audio, and written pieces—with the support of the Multimedia Producer and freelance creatives. 

PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS

  • A mission-driven individual with a belief in, and commitment to, Brevard Music Center's mission, artistic vision, and values.
  • A great storyteller with solid writing skills able to describe musical events, specifically classical music, in a compelling way.
  • A good listener and strategist; comfortable receiving input from many sources, and able to analyze and formulate disparate information into sound, well organized plans.
  • A flexible and creative individual who can find alternative ways to reach objectives when barriers arise; a skilled negotiator.
  • A team builder with strong skills in management and leadership; one who understands the subtleties of motivating and directing a diverse group of personalities with different work styles.
  • A self-starter who can juggle many projects simultaneously, setting clear priorities and schedules in collaboration with the needs of other departments.
  • A project manager who can handle multitasking required in a summer music festival.
  • Emotionally mature with a good sense of humor and the flexibility and sensitivity to work with diverse personalities and situations. 

IDEAL EXPERIENCE AND QUALIFICATIONS

The ideal candidate will have the following:

  • A minimum of five years of experience in Arts Communications, Marketing, Sales, Advertising and PR with a demonstrated record of driving audience growth and maximizing ticket sales.
  • Strong organizational, leadership, communication, and management skills.
  • The ability to translate strategic thinking into action with a strong understanding of technology (knowledge of Ticketing Software preferred) and multi-channel marketing.
    A keen sense of design and sales copywriting.
  • Excellent written and verbal communication skills with the ability to write compellingly about classical music and the arts. Effective presenter internally and externally to peers and subordinates as well as patrons, donors, and community business and government leaders.
  • The ability to work independently and as part of a high-performing cross-functional team.
  • The ability to organize and prioritize projects, meet deadlines, and sustain productivity.
  • Talent to lead by creating a positive day-to-day work environment for the staff that inspires open communication, teamwork, and a culture of respect.
  • The position offers excellent benefits including 401k, team bonus, ample vacation time, etc. 

Questions can be directed to:

Keith Arbogast
CFO & Senior Director of Operations
Brevard Music Center
hr@brevardmusic.org

Please note: As Brevard prepares for the 2023 season, we continue to work with local and state health officials, along with campus and venue safety specialists, to develop and implement guidelines and protocols designed to keep our students, faculty, staff, and patrons safe. For the 2022 season, BMC's COVID-19 protocols included social distancing measures, indoor mask-wearing, and vaccination requirements. We will share updated policies for 2023 as more information becomes available from public health agencies.

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Brevard Music Center is a summer institute and festival. Over four hundred young musicians from around the country come each summer to study and perform in over 80 concerts ranging from orchestra to opera, chamber music and pops. As a matter of policy, the Brevard Music Center does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, sexual orientation, or gender identity), national origin, age (40 or older), disability, or genetic information (including family medical history) in the recruitment and admission of students, the recruitment and employment of its faculty and staff, or the operation of any of its programs and activities.