The Washington Chorus Taps New Executive Director

Stephen Marc Beaudoin is a tenor in the 160-voice Washington Chorus. As of February 4, he is also the executive director. The group has been searching for a permanent exec since Dianne Peterson left in June of 2016 after over three decades in the job.

Rita Shapiro, ex executive director of the National Symphony Orchestra, has been serving as interim. Chase Maggiono was in the job one year prior to her.

Beaudoin announced earlier in the month that he was leaving the Maryland Symphony Orchestra after just 16 months as executive director. In his brief time there, he is said to have accomplished a “significant financial turnaround,” commissioned new works, increased earned and contributed income, and helped the orchestra make its first recording, with guitarist Sharon Isbin.

When he was first appointed there, Beaudoin talked in his comments about the orchestra being “about so much more than classical music alone…. It is about great community building….”

He seems to have similar ideas for his new ensemble, seeing the 58-year-old volunteer group as “poised to serve an even more central role in the cultural, educational, and civic life of D.C.”  

Prior to Maryland, Beaudoin was for seven years executive director of PHAME (formerly the Pacific Handicapped Artists Musicians and Entertainers), an Oregon-based organization that serves artists and musicians with disabilities.

He has a degree in vocal performance from the New England Conservatory of Music, serves on the board of directors of his family foundation and on the executive council of the Composer Diversity Project, and has been a marketing and fundraising consultant for a number or regional theaters and opera companies.