The Music School Of Delaware Names Stephen Beaudoin, MBA, As New President & CEO

After a national search, The Music School of Delaware has named Stephen Beaudoin – an accomplished leader working at the intersection of music, education, business, and social impact – as the organization's new President & CEO. Beaudoin begins with the Music School on February 5, 2024. 

Recognized by Musical America magazine as one of the music industry's “Top Movers and Shapers” and by the Portland Business Journal as a “noted nonprofit leader,” Beaudoin comes to the Music School with over twenty years of experience connecting communities, growing organizations, and realizing social impact across the nonprofit, private, and public sectors. His experience includes roles as a nonprofit CEO, publicly elected school board chair, professional vocalist, consultant, and family foundation board member. 

“I'm incredibly humbled and very excited to step forward as The Music School of Delaware's next President and CEO,” Beaudoin says. “This opportunity feels very alive to me, and very aligned with my values and the kind of impact I hope to make in the world today: leveraging music and creativity to connect communities and support people in realizing their fullest potential. I look forward to working with the entire community – Music School faculty, board, staff, supporters, and community partners, as well as all the new friends we'll make in the months and years to come – to help steward the Music School into its next century of positive impact.”

Richard Facciolo, Chair of The Music School of Delaware Board of Directors, noted that a national search, conducted in partnership with the highly respected executive search firm Aspen Leadership Group, yielded an exceptionally strong pool of candidates, with Beaudoin as the school's choice. 

“Stephen brings a wealth of experience and dedication that will position the school for another 100 years of success,” Facciolo says. “The entire school community is very excited to have such talent join the school and share in continuing our mission.”

Beaudoin follows outgoing President & CEO Kate Ransom, who retires at the end of 2023 after a 24-year distinguished tenure. Kate Ransom will continue her professional activity as a violin performing artist, as Artist Faculty – Violin, and as Artistic Director of Serafin Summer Music (a chamber music festival in June) for the Music School.

Ransom comments: “The Music School Board, staff, and faculty have spent the past two decades building upon the school's heritage of excellence, expanding to become a statewide and regional presence and the primary local resource for music education for everyone. The upcoming Centennial is a supreme opportunity to place that reputation and service track record in a bright light, broaden awareness, and garner the support needed to sustain and advance the school. Stephen's background and experience, as well as his core values, position him to be an excellent leader for the school's public face.” 

“As the Music School celebrates one hundred years of impact and turns our eyes to the next hundred years, we have some big, important questions to consider,” Beaudoin says. “Music has changed so much over the last one hundred years and continues to evolve. The needs of students, families, and our communities across Delaware continue to evolve. How will the Music School understand and respond to these changing needs and conditions? How will we define ‘music' in this context, and for whom? What is our statewide call for engagement and impact? I look forward to collaborating with all our stakeholders to explore these questions and together find the answers that will allow us to make the most meaningful difference for and with our regional community.”

Beaudoin comes to the Music School from his most recent role as Executive Director of South Orange Performing Arts Center, or SOPAC, in northern New Jersey. There, Beaudoin led SOPAC in realizing a new strategic plan, managing the institution's commitment to new core values, developing a new community-based programs model, driving significant contributed revenue results, and presenting marquee musical artists and acts including Emily King, Judy Collins, Chanticleer, Cyrus Chestnut, Samara Joy, John Oates, Liv Warfield, Pedrito Martinez, Jimmie Herrod, Sons of Serendip, and many others.

Prior to SOPAC, Beaudoin served as Executive Director of The Washington Chorus, the D.C. metro community's only two-time Grammy-winning choral ensemble, where he led the organization in producing its highly regarded subscription series at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Highlights of his work at The Washington Chorus include introducing dynamic pricing models to maximize live concert revenues and championing artists and creators of color through new work commissions. Beaudoin collaborated closely with the newly named Artistic Director, Dr. Eugene Rogers, to produce major artistic and social impact projects including the commission and world premiere of a short music film by composer Damien Geter, “Cantata for a More Hopeful Tomorrow,” the development of a seasonal “songs on demand” digital platform, and meaningful artistic partnerships with leading ensembles including the National Symphony Orchestra (at The Kennedy Center) and The National Philharmonic (at The Music Center at Strathmore).

Prior to his role with The Washington Chorus, Beaudoin served as Executive Director of the Maryland Symphony Orchestra, where he led audience diversification and expansion initiatives and developed meaningful new artistic projects, including commissions from composers Michael Daugherty and Kimo Williams and leading the Orchestra through its first-ever recording project at The Music Center at Strathmore—a world premiere work by composer Chris Brubeck in collaboration with multiple Grammy-winning guitarist Sharon Isbin.

Before that, Beaudoin was for seven years the Executive Director of PHAME, an innovative Oregon nonprofit providing arts education and access to artists and musicians with intellectual or developmental disabilities. Additionally, as a publicly elected school member, Beaudoin served as Vice Chair and then Chair of the Board for Multnomah Education Service District, an $80 million public education agency serving more than 100,000 students in Multnomah County, Oregon.

Beaudoin has served on the boards of TEDxPortland, the Nonprofit Association of Oregon, and Oregon Humanities, where he was appointed by Oregon Governor John Kitzhaber. He was also part of the Executive Council of the National Composer Diversity Project, which works to increase representation of historically oppressed and under-represented peoples in Classical music.

As a classically trained tenor with “a plaintive, attractive tone” (Boston Globe), Beaudoin has performed with Pink Martini, the Portland Cello Project, Trinity Consort, Fear No Music, Opera Boston, and many more ensembles. He serves as a strategic advisor and board member of the HMF Beaudoin Family Foundation. He is an honors alumnus of Boston's New England Conservatory, where he earned an undergraduate degree in Vocal Performance with Distinction in Performance Honors, and he holds an MBA from the University of Virginia Darden School of Business, where he was named to the Poets & Quants publication's “Best and Brightest Executive MBAs of 2022” list.

As the grandchild of teachers and the son of educators who also worked at the intersections of music and community, Beaudoin was born and raised in Independence, Missouri, and looks forward to calling Delaware his home.

The Music School of Delaware, founded in 1924, serves residents of Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Maryland. A community resource open to the public, the Music School employs nearly 90 expert educators and offers standard-setting instructional programs for people of all ages and abilities. In addition, over 100 public performances each year, many of them free, offer opportunities to enjoy outstanding music in a variety of styles and genres. A financial assistance program is available to ensure music excellence for everyone. For more information, visit  www.musicschoolofdelaware.org

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