Posted June 19, 2021
DAYTON, OH (June 18, 2021) – The Dayton Performing Arts Alliance (DPAA) announces the appointment of Patrick J. Nugent as President and CEO beginning August 2, 2021.
An experienced performing arts leader, Nugent will assume the leadership of the DPAA from interim CEO Patricia McDonald, who has led the organization since February 2020 through the COVID-19 pandemic. The DPAA thanks Pat for her expert guidance and leadership during a challenging time for the performing arts.
Nugent is a business-minded nonprofit leader with a lifelong passion for the performing arts. He brings to the DPAA an expertise in establishing vision, strategic planning, artistic innovation, fiscal discipline, and responsible growth. He is deeply committed to public advocacy, representation, and community involvement.
“The DPAA Board of Trustees is thrilled to welcome Patrick Nugent to the Dayton Performing Arts Alliance. We have every confidence that he will bring critical insight, dynamic leadership, and artistic passion to the DPAA,” said Vernon Fernandes, Board Chair of the DPAA. “Patrick’s proven success as a leader within two previous performing arts organizations will be a tremendous asset to our organization. His commitment to diversity, inclusion, and community aligns perfectly with DPAA’s mission to transform lives through the power of music and dance.”
Nugent joins the DPAA from Lyric Opera of Chicago, where he was Vice President of Development. He built up the infrastructure for supporting high-level, multi-year fundraising for operating, capital, and endowment funds during the coronavirus pandemic, initiated the opera company’s first-ever advocacy strategy, and built up its major gifts program.
Prior to his experience with Lyric, Nugent served as Executive Director of the Annapolis Symphony Orchestra, where he established the vision and successfully implemented a plan for financial stabilization, sustainability, and expansion. He also worked previously with the Beech Acres Parenting Center and Cincinnati Museum Center in Cincinnati, Ohio, spent five years working in Kenya, and served six years as a professor at Earlham College in Richmond, Indiana. His wife, Mary Kay Rehard, also an avid patron of the arts, is a clinical social worker and trauma psychotherapist in Dayton.
“I am grateful and excited to collaborate with three remarkable artistic directors, three excellent ensembles, expansive education programs, and a focused and committed board,” said Nugent. “I believe Dayton can become a national beacon as a community that supports wide and deep access to the performing arts for everyone in our community, regardless of cultural background or economic resources.”
This position as President and CEO of the DPAA marks a return to southwestern Ohio for Nugent. He received his undergraduate degree in Classics and Theology from Xavier University in Cincinnati and went on to earn his Ph.D. in the History of Christianity with a minor in Islam from the University of Chicago. Nugent is an amateur classical pianist, a “ham” radio operator, and an avid sailor and kayaker.
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About the Dayton Performing Arts Alliance
The Dayton Performing Arts Alliance (DPAA) was formed in July 2012 as the result of a groundbreaking and innovative merger between the Dayton Ballet, the Dayton Opera, and the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra. Together, they are the largest performing arts organization in the greater Dayton community, with a mission to be the community’s indispensable source for traditional, diverse and innovative experiences in ballet, opera, and orchestral music. The vision of the DPAA is to transform lives through the power of music and dance. The DPAA offers a wide variety of performance and education programs, setting a new standard for artistic excellence. DPAA performances reach an audience of more than 90,000 people annually, and their rich arts education programming serves over 60,000 schoolchildren in 150 schools in the Miami Valley. These performances and education initiatives are made possible in part through major support provided by the Ohio Arts Council, Culture Works, the City of Dayton, Montgomery County and the National Endowment for the Arts.