Director Kathy Hotchner to leave Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts
SCOTTSDALE – Kathy Hotchner, director of the Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts and vice president of the Scottsdale Cultural Council, has announced that she will leave her position on September 1, 2008. Hotchner has worked at the nonprofit arts organization since 1988. Bill Banchs, president and chief executive officer of the Scottsdale Cultural Council, will serve as interim director of the Center until a permanent replacement for Hotchner is named.
"It's been a privilege to have guided the Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts for the past two decades, and I'm so proud of what we've accomplished during that time," remarked Hotchner. "The Scottsdale Cultural Council has new leadership and direction, and the time is right for me to start a fresh chapter in my life and to pursue new projects and opportunities that have long interested me."
"We are grateful to Kathy for her years of service to the arts in Scottsdale," remarked Bill Banchs. "Her programming has laid a wonderful foundation and tradition of diversity and innovation for the Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts, and we will build upon her legacy of excellence as we move forward."
Under Hotchner's leadership, the Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts has grown into one of the region's premier arts organizations with a national reputation for its high-quality performances, festivals and educational programs and annual attendance of more than 300,000. The Center's annual budget has grown from $1.5 million in 1988 to nearly $8 million today, and the facility is currently undergoing a major renovation of its atrium lobby and Virginia G. Piper Theater.
Originally a playwright, Hotchner became nationally known for her innovative programming, creating a niche for Scottsdale as a presenter of emerging artists who later grew to international stature, from young musicians such as Joshua Bell and Wynton Marsalis to satirist David Sedaris and the British dance sensation STOMP. During her tenure in Scottsdale, she also commissioned a number of new works from major performers, including the late Spalding Gray's Gray's Anatomy, the dance company MOMIX's Baseball and the Kronos Quartet's Native American National Anthem.
Hotchner currently serves on the board of directors of the Association of Performing Arts Presenters and is a former president of the Western Arts Alliance. She has received numerous awards throughout her career, including the Jerry Willis Award for excellence in programming from the Western Arts Alliance, the Medallion of Merit Award in recognition of her commitment to dance from the Arizona chapter of the National Society of Arts and Letters, the Arizona Governor's Arts Award for the ArtReach ticket program, the YWCA Tribute to Women Award and a Champion of Diversity Award from the City of Scottsdale.
Prior to joining the Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts, Hotchner served as director of the Arvada Center for the Arts and Humanities in Arvada, Colorado.
Hotchner plans to remain in Scottsdale with her family.
