Since 2001, Michael M. Kaiser has been president of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, where he has expanded educational and artistic programming and overseen a major theater renovation effort. Mr. Kaiser is responsible for the artistic and financial health of the center’s theater, jazz, chamber music and dance seasons and for that of its affiliates, including the National Symphony Orchestra; the Washington National Opera; and VSA, the international organization on arts and disability.
Mr. Kaiser has earned international renown for his work at numerous institutions, such as the Royal Opera House (London), American Ballet Theatre, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and Kansas City Ballet. He advises performing arts organizations around the world, working with arts leaders in nearly 70 countries. Upon joining the Kennedy Center, Mr. Kaiser created the Kennedy Center Arts Management Institute, renamed the DeVos Institute of Arts Management at the Kennedy Center after a $22.5 million commitment from Dick and Betsy DeVos. The institute features a variety of initiatives and programs for training the current and next generations of arts leaders. Mr. Kaiser also founded “Arts in Crisis: A Kennedy Center Initiative” in February 2009 and embarked on a corresponding, 50-state tour.
