Associate Producer

Heartbeat Opera
New York, NY 10011
US

DESCRIPTION

Heartbeat Opera, “a categorically imaginative company” (The New Yorker), enters the second half of its seventh season seeking an Associate Producer (three-quarters to full-time), with experience in media management and marketing, to handle a wide range of needs in support of this innovative and quickly-developing company. Founding Co-Artistic Directors Ethan Heard and Louisa Proske and Managing Director Annie Middleton are looking for a multi-talented, energetic, and efficient team member to join their close-knit collaboration -- a motivated producer who will take pride supporting Heartbeat through this pandemic and onto a thriving future. 


Background

Ethan Heard (Co-Artistic Director & Producer) and Louisa Proske (Co-Artistic Director) founded Heartbeat Opera in 2014, after they graduated from Yale School of Drama’s directing program, to create radical adaptations of classic operas in intimate spaces for 21st century audiences. “One of the most agile and dynamic companies on New York's indie opera scene” (Opera News), Heartbeat has already established itself as a highly-respected, innovative force in the opera world. 

In its first six seasons, Heartbeat has presented twelve fully-realized productions, often featuring new chamber arrangements and English translations. Heartbeat adaptations, which can be seen as world premieres of classics, speak to the moment, here and now. Fidelio featured a primarily-Black cast and more than 100 incarcerated singers from six prison choirs. Carmen was set on the U.S./Mexico border and featured accordion, electric guitar, and saxophone. Heartbeat has taken its productions to the Kennedy Center, BAM, and Chamber Music North West in Portland, Oregon. It staged the first ever opera performance on The High Line and has mounted its immensely popular, interdisciplinary Halloween Drag Extravaganza each year since its founding, in iconic venues such as National Sawdust and Roulette. 

Heartbeat has collaborated with organizations such as Atlas DIY and A BroaderWay to bring opera education to young people in NYC. It is represented by the world class artist agency Opus 3 Artists and plans to tour in the near future.

Since the pandemic began, Heartbeat has created three virtual productions: Lady M, an online fantasia of Verdi’s Macbeth which sold out 32 Virtual Soirées, extending twice, reaching 740 households across 5 continents; The Secret Sauce, a Heartbeat retrospective featuring special guests like Jeanine Tesori, Anthony Roth Costanzo, and Julia Bullock; and Breathing Free, a visual album that celebrates Black artists which premiered in December and will be shared more this spring with accompanying social justice discussions. 

This May, Heartbeat is planning an in-person workshop/residency of its first-ever commission, a one act opera called The Extinctionist.

Heartbeat has been hailed across the national and international press, including three features in The New York Times, stories on CNN and the BBC, and an ALL ARTS/WNET documentary: “bold and vivid” (New York Times), “elegant and boisterous” (New Yorker), “fascinating and gorgeous” (Observer), “ingenious” (Wall Street Journal), “gripping and entertaining” (Opernwelt), "a flatout triumph" (Opera News).

Learn more at: www.heartbeatopera.org


Mission 

From the drama at the core of each work, Heartbeat Opera grows vivid theatrical worlds through revelatory adaptations, radical rearrangements, and ingenious design. Through an inquisitive collaborative process with a diverse community of artists, we break down traditional barriers to reimagine opera for artists and audiences of the twenty-first century.


Leadership

Co-founders Ethan Heard (Co-Artistic Director & Producer) and Louisa Proske (Co-Artistic Director) lead the company with Managing Director Annie Middleton and consistent collaborative participation by Co-Music Directors Jacob Ashworth (violin) and Daniel Schlosberg (piano and arrangements). 


Board

Heartbeat is governed by a 6-member Board, formally constituted two years ago, populated by business leaders, attorneys, artists, and philanthropists – all of whom are opera lovers. Board Chair Robert Fitzpatrick formerly ran Euro Disney, Cal Arts, and the Museum of Contemporary Arts in Chicago. 


Opportunities & Challenges

Heartbeat began with a $10,000 Kickstarter Campaign. In six short years, the company has blossomed into a $500,000 organization. In its seventh season, Heartbeat has great momentum, exciting opportunities, and significant challenges. In many ways, Heartbeat has experienced a growth spurt in the last two years and needs the incoming Associate Producer to help strengthen its infrastructure in many areas. The company is dedicated to creating equity, diversity, and inclusion through anti-racist actions in its art-making and administration. 


Position

The Associate Producer reports to the Managing Director. 

Responsibilities

The Associate Producer’s responsibilities will be tailored to the individual’s strengths and will include but not be limited to:

Marketing/Media

·   Support Co-Artistic Directors and Managing Director with Marketing strategy and plans

·   Supervise website (including launch of new website) 

·   Create and distribute e-newsletter, maintain mailing list

·   Execute basic graphic design tasks

·   Manage Audience Relations: supervise box office, customer relations, and manage the invitations of audience, funders, and industry to Heartbeat productions and special events 

·   Maintain archive of multimedia assets

·   Set up cross promotions with partner companies

·   Liaise with Social Media Manager for content creation and distribution

Development

·   Support Grant Research

·   Manage the Grant Calendar and tracking of deadlines

·   Manage the submissions of Grant applications

·   Manage gift entry & acknowledgment letters

·   Support with Fundraising Events

Other

·   Support Managing Directors with General Operation needs, including but not limited to: administrative tasks such as scheduling, coordinating 

meetings, payroll, paperwork, tracking expenses, etc.

·   Hire and supervise interns & Production Assistants

·   Support tasks related to ongoing Education program

·   Embrace Heartbeat’s commitment to EDI and Anti-racism by adhering to the company’s Community Agreements and Code of Conduct, and interrupting and reporting actions or behaviors that go against them. 


Qualifications

• Ideally, the successful candidate for this role will be an ambitious and energetic collaborator who combines a passion for the performing arts with significant, relevant experience in supporting the operational aspects of a not-for-profit arts organization. They will possess most of these skills and experiences: 

• marketing experience; 

• strong organization, communication, interpersonal, and time management skills;

• technical savvy;

• basic graphic design and web design;

• remaining creative and self-motivated while attentive to the overall vision and direction provided by the Co-Artistic Directors and Managing Director;

• fluency in Google Suite, Dropbox, Mailchimp, Squarespace, and Little Green Light.

• Personal Qualities

• Creativity and outside-the-box thinking for administration;

• self-motivated, good at prioritizing, efficient;

• curiosity and listening skills;

• savvy in navigating complicated situations;

• good at reading and collaborating with a variety of people;

• calm and sense of humor under pressure;

• strong interest in creating equity, diversity, and inclusion through anti-racist actions in art and administration.

DURATION

March 15, 2021 -

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