Stephen Beaudoin will take over as president and CEO of the Music School of Delaware on Feb. 5, 2024.
After a quarter century, the Music School of Delaware has a new leader.
Stephen Beaudoin, who’s had decades of work in music, education, business and social impact, has been picked as the school’s new president and chief executive officer.
“This opportunity feels very alive to me, and very aligned with my values and the kind of impact I hope to make in the world today,” Beaudoin said, “leveraging music and creativity to connect communities and support people in realizing their fullest potential.”
Beaudoin was selected after a national search, in partnership with Aspen Leadership Group, to replace the school’s longstanding leader, Kate Ransom.
“The Music School Board, staff, and faculty have spent the past two decades building upon the school’s heritage of excellence, expanding to become a statewide and regional presence and the primary local resource for music education for everyone,” Ransom said.
Kate Ransom
The upcoming centennial, she said, is a supreme opportunity to place the school’s reputation and service track record in a bright light, broaden awareness, and garner the support needed to sustain and advance the school.
She said Beaudoin’s background, as well as his core values, position him to be an excellent replacement to ensure the school’s future success.
“As the Music School celebrates one hundred years of impact and turns our eyes to the next hundred years, we have some big, important questions to consider,” Beaudoin said. ““Music has changed so much over the last one hundred years and continues to evolve. The needs of students, families, and our communities across Delaware continue to evolve.”
Music School’s evolution
Part of this evolution, he says, is asking questions like:
- How will the Music School understand and respond to these changing needs and conditions?
- How will we define ‘music’ in this context, and for whom?
- What is our statewide call for engagement and impact?
“I look forward to collaborating with all our stakeholders to explore these questions and together find the answers that will allow us to make the most meaningful difference for and with our regional community,” he said.
Beaudoin will start his new endeavor Feb. 5, 2024.
“I look forward to working with the entire community – Music School faculty, board, staff, supporters, and community partners, as well as all the new friends we’ll make in the months and years to come – to help steward the Music School into its next century of positive impact,” he said.
Throughout his twenty years of experience in music and social work, Beaudoin has been recognized by Musical America magazine as one of the music industry’s “Top Movers and Shapers,” and by the Portland Business Journal as a “noted nonprofit leader.”
“Stephen brings a wealth of experience and dedication that will position the school for another 100 years of success,” said Richard Facciolo, chair of the Music School’s board of directors. “The entire school community is very excited to have such talent join the school and share in continuing our mission.”
Beaudoin comes to the Music School of Delaware after serving as the executive director of South Orange Performing Arts Center in northern New Jersey, where he helped fulfill a new strategic plan, managed the institution’s commitment to new core values, developed a new community-based programs model, and presented marquee musical artists and acts.
Beaudoin also served as executive director of the Washington Chorus, executive director of the Maryland Symphony Orchestra, executive director of PHAME (Oregon nonprofit providing arts education), and has been on the boards of TEDxPortland, the Nonprofit Association of Oregon, and Oregon Humanities.
Raised in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, Jarek earned a B.A. in journalism and a B.A. in political science from Temple University in 2021. After running CNN’s Michael Smerconish’s YouTube channel, Jarek became a reporter for the Bucks County Herald before joining Delaware LIVE News.
Jarek can be reached by email at [email protected] or by phone at (215) 450-9982. Follow him on Twitter @jarekrutz
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