Jim Wooster To Step Down As Executive Director Of Passim
Wooster will leave position in 2025 after 10 years.
Jim Wooster, Executive Director of Passim, has announced that he will retire from the Cambridge music venue in early 2025. Wooster has served as executive director for nearly a decade and helped strengthen the legendary arts non-profit, creating new initiatives and setting the organization up for continued success. A search is underway now for his replacement.
Wooster was already very familiar with Passim when he took over in 2015. He had been attending shows at the club since the mid-80s and even performed there a few times with various bands. Wooster joined the Passim board in 2012 and became clerk in 2013. He would go on to lead the organization as Executive Director, helping navigate the club through the pandemic, increasing total revenue of the club and boosting contributed revenue by 7% over his tenure, and helped the club celebrate 60 years with a concert in Boston's Shubert Theatre in 2019.
One of Wooster's biggest achievements during his tenure has been to expand the organization's mission to nurture artists at all stages of their career. During the pandemic, Passim launched the PEAR Fund, which has distributed $205,000 to artists via grants. He has laid the groundwork for a more vibrant, inclusive and equitable music community. Through the creation of the artist-led Folk Collective, Passim is leveraging its legacy to create a future folk music scene that authentically represents a wide range of voice, themes, and artistic expressions.
Wooster has set the club up for future success by recruiting a strong board and staff dedicated to weaving diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging throughout all of the organization's strategic priorities. He has helped expand food offerings including Live Music Brunch from the in-house kitchen, launched a new website and ticketing platform, and given the club a cosmetic makeover.
"Passim has thrived during Jim's tenure as Executive Director,” said Annie Bartlett, Passim Board Chair. “With Jim's leadership and dedication to Passim, we have kept the music playing, built the incredible community we have today, and positioned Passim for a vibrant and inclusive future.”
Wooster will stay on in his current role as the search for his replacement is underway.
About Passim
The mission of Passim is to provide truly exceptional and interactive live musical experiences for both performers and audiences, to nurture artists at all stages of their career, and to build a vibrant music community. Passim does so through their legendary listening venue, music school, artist grants and outreach programs. As a nonprofit since 1994, Passim carries on the heritage of its predecessors-the historic Club 47 (1958-1968) and for-profit Passim (1969-1994). We cultivate a diverse mix of musical traditions, where the emphasis is on the relationship between performers and audience and teachers and students. Located in Harvard Square, Passim serves Cambridge and the broader region by featuring local, national and International Artists. Our ultimate goal is to help the performance arts flourish and thereby enrich the lives of members of our community. For a complete schedule, visit www.passim.org.
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The Norwegians Elayne P. Bernstein Theatre (9/04-10/04) |
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Wicked Boston Opera House (9/23-11/15) |
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The Rocky Horror Picture Show Spooktacular Tour with Patricia Quinn Emerson Colonial Theatre (10/27-10/27) |
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Alanis Morissette's Jagged Little Pill Arlington Friends Of The Drama (9/19-10/04) |
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Mamma Mia! Boston Opera House (4/13-4/25) |
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Golden Girls The Laughs Continue Emerson Colonial Theatre (11/28-11/28) VIDEOS |
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Monty Python''s Spamalot Boch Center (10/06-10/11) |
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Little Bear Ridge Road SpeakEasy Stage Company (1/29-2/20) |
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The Nina Variations Boston Center for The Arts (8/27-8/30) |
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Girl from the North Country Cape Rep Theatre (8/05-8/30) PHOTOS |