WASHINGTON, DC (CelebrityAccess) – The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts welcomes its new Public Programs Director of Social Impact, Thérèse LaGamma. With an extensive international background having lived abroad in Francophone, West Africa, and Italy, along with an arts administration career spanning two decades, LaGamma is a perfect fit for the diverse and eclectic entertainment of the famed Kennedy Center.
Before heading to the Nation’s capital, LaGamma served as Director of Programming for the Portsmouth Music Hall in New Hampshire. While in that role, she produced the Portsmouth Singer Songwriter Festival and launched numerous popular signature series with performers such as Ray LaMontagne, Thievery Corporation, Trey Anastasio and Trevor Noah. LaGamma was also responsible for bringing “The Moth” mainstage to the New Hampshire seacoast.
Prior to the Music Hall, she was involved in programming for the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. There, she was responsible for producing and expanding their music series by diversifying their lineup and becoming a champion for emerging artists. She collaborated with numerous music conservatories and schools across the Boston area to bring music into the museums’ galleries for special community engagements, open houses, and events.
Lastly, LaGamma has served as host and announcer at New Hampshire Public Radio, where she produced a two-hour weekly music show, and consulted for several New England non-profits within the Cape Cod National Seashore and Monadnock regions. Most recently, she was invited to serve as Artistic Advisor to the New England Foundation for the Arts Center Stage program.
In her new role, LaGamma will be responsible for the curation of Social Impact public programmatic experiences, and will work collaboratively across the Kennedy Center to innovate and drive the development, implementation, and evaluation of a range of public programs and special projects inclusive of the signature Millennium Stage. She will center anti-racist practices in project management and in the approach to key project tasks, she will collaborate with internal and external stakeholders and cultural producers. Additionally, she will create innovative and interdisciplinary experiences that strengthen the Kennedy Center’s connection with local communities and drive both onsite visitation and online engagement.
The John F. Kennedy Center, named in 1964 as a memorial to the assasinated former President, sits nestled on the banks of the Potomac River in Washington, DC. The center, known for it’s diversified talent hosts theater, dance, jazz, pop, folk and much more. The Kennedy Center Honors is an annual award given by the center’s Board of Trustees. The award is given to honor lifetime contributions to the American culture and performing arts, reaching across all genres and medium. Past honorees have included Debbie Allen, James Earl Jones, B.B. King, Cary Grant and Billy Joel. The most recent class included Bette Midler, Berry Gordy, Lorne Michaels, Justino Diaz and Joni Mitchell.
