Scott Edmiston Named Boston Conservatory At Berklee Dean Of Theater

Educator, artist, and arts advocate Scott Edmiston will join Boston Conservatory at Berklee as dean of the Theater Division starting August 1.

Edmiston comes to Boston Conservatory from Northeastern University, where he has been a professor of the practice and chair of the Theater Department since 2014. Under his leadership, the department experienced a 98 percent increase in theater applications, a 47 percent increase in annual course enrollments, and a 190 percent increase in theater majors and minors. While there, he led a curriculum revision, during which he oversaw nearly $1 million in capital improvements. Edmiston also contributed to the development of more than 30 professional co-op partners, the addition of six new faculty and staff, and the creation of six new minor programs. His areas of teaching and expertise include directing European modern drama, 20th century American drama, queer theater and performance, the American musical, Eugene O'Neill, and Tennessee Williams.

Edmiston has previously served on the faculty at Boston University's School of Theatre Arts and led their M.F.A. directing program. He taught directing at Brown University/Trinity Rep and dramatic literature at Brandeis University, where he was the inaugural director of the Office of the Arts, overseeing the visual and performing arts for 11 years. At Brandeis, he raised over $1.2 million for arts programs and revived the historic Leonard Bernstein Festival of the Creative Arts.

"I am thrilled that Scott Edmiston will be joining our vibrant community as the dean of theater starting in August," said Cathy Young, executive director for Boston Conservatory at Berklee. "His excellence as an artist, academic, and leader will help to propel Boston Conservatory at Berklee's Theater Division forward into a brilliant future."

Edmiston has been called "one of Boston's finest directors" by the Boston Globe, and received the 2011 Elliot Norton Award for Sustained Excellence for his artistic body of work. He has directed more than 60 productions for theaters, universities, and opera companies across New England including the American Repertory Theater, SpeakEasy Stage Company, Lyric Stage Company of Boston, Central Square Theater, Gloucester Stage Company, Greater Boston Stage Company, Opera Boston, New Repertory Theatre, and Huntington Theatre Company, where he was the artistic associate for seven years.