Executive Director/ Chief Executive Officer

Full time / $250,000-300,000 annually / Old Town School of Folk Music / Chicago, IL

Old Town School of Folk Music (OTS) seeks a creative, strategic, and visionary leader to serve as its next Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer (ED/CEO). This individual will unleash the possibility within the OTS community and guide OTS in its continued success and growth as a renowned and trail-blazing community arts organization.

Located in Chicago, the Old Town School of Folk Music stands as a beacon of musical heritage and community spirit. Established in 1957, this revered institution has long been a center of creativity and community, nurturing the roots of folk arts while embracing innovation in the ever-changing rhythms of artistic expression. Old Town School of Folk Music (OTS) is the largest community music school in the U.S., the largest employer of teaching artists, and an international model for community arts education. OTS’s mission is to bring people together to learn, create, perform, and enjoy music and dance. It seeks to build a welcoming, thriving community where all people are connected by the joy and expression of music and dance. OTS strives to be an inclusive and equitable organization that reflects the diversity of Chicago and the diversity of the music and performing arts traditions that it teaches and celebrates.

OTS serves thousands of children each year, providing arts education programming throughout Chicago. This includes artist residencies in the Chicago Public Schools (CPS), early childhood music programming and robust field trip and financial aid programs. The Music Moves initiative connects community partners located in Chicago’s South Side and West Side neighborhoods with high-quality arts programming that builds arts capacity, fosters skills acquisition in music and dance, and promotes equity through performance and discourse related to personal growth, curiosity, and imagination.

OTS’s annual schedule of concerts and events entertains and enlightens more than 100,000 people each year, showcasing the talents of big-name acts, master musicians, and emerging artists from more than 50 countries

Building on a rich tradition of artistic creativity and community engagement, the Old Town School seeks a passionate and experienced leader to guide the institution into its next chapter of service and impact. The next ED/CEO will be a visionary leader with tremendous integrity and a deep commitment to fostering inclusivity, innovation, and excellence in all aspects of teaching, programming, and operations.

The range of salary for this role will be from $250- 300k; total compensation, including incentives, will be based on experience and commensurate with the market.

Requirements

The ED/CEO directly manages a senior team of leaders and will have oversight of 340 employees, 235 of whom are full-time and part-time teachers. The ED/CEO will be responsible for the management and stewardship of an operating budget of approximately $14.5 million. In addition, the ED/CEO will be responsible for the oversight of three facilities owned and operated by OTS: one in Lincoln Park and two in Lincoln Square. The ED/CEO serves and stewards the community, its traditions, values, and vision, and reports directly to the Board of Directors of the OTS.