Christy Havard Selected to Lead The Performing Arts Center, Purchase College

Purchase College announced today that Christy Havard, currently serving as Director of Production for The Performing Arts Center, Purchase College, will assume the role of Interim Managing Director, effective immediately.

Current Director Seth Soloway will assist with the hand-off of operations up until his departure mid-month. All spring 2021 events and initiatives will proceed as planned.

"Christy's track record speaks for itself," says Soloway. "Her extensive production background and natural leadership skills will be a great asset, and I have no doubt she will ably steer The PAC through our current challenges and beyond. I leave Purchase confident knowing The PAC is in good hands."

Christy Havard joined The PAC staff in 2005 as the Director of Production. Prior to her arrival at Purchase, Havard served as Production Manager at the New 42 Street Inc., which includes the Duke Theatre on 42nd St and The New Victory Theater. She has worked as a lighting designer and master electrician and is a member of the League of Professional Theatre Women. Havard will be the second woman to head The PAC in its history.

"I am honored for the opportunity to lead The PAC," says Havard. "We are in unusual times, but I am certain that we will make it through these challenges and thrive again, and have some great new adventures along the way. I hope you will join us."

Soloway is leaving Purchase to become the Associate Dean for Presenting and External Relations at the Blair School of Music at Vanderbilt University, where he will be responsible for the administration and management of Blair's presenting spaces.

ABOUT THE PERFORMING ARTS CENTER, PURCHASE COLLEGE:

THE PERFORMING ARTS CENTER, PURCHASE COLLEGE (The PAC), a four-theatre complex, is the major professional, non-profit arts presenter in the Southeastern New York-Southwestern Connecticut region.

While the stages as The PAC have been dark since March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, The PAC continues to operate as a safe learning space for Purchase College students, and as a presenter of a broad range of virtual events and content that inspires, engages, and sparks critical conversations through their The PAC in Your Living Room initiative.

Learn more at: https://www.artscenter.org

PURCHASE COLLEGE, 735 Anderson Hill Road, Purchase, NY, is located 28 miles northeast of New York City at the Connecticut border. The College, part of the State University of New York (SUNY), is an institution of public higher education encompassing the liberal arts and sciences, professional training in the performing and visual arts, continuing education, the Neuberger Museum of Art, and The Performing Arts Center.