PASADENA, CALIF.: Following an extensive national search, Boston Court Pasadena has announced that Manuel Prieto is the organization’s executive director. Prieto will co-lead the organization with artistic director Jessica Kubzansky, one of two founding artistic directors at the organization’s inception in 2003, and sole artistic director since 2020, with Cheryl Rizzo as managing director. Prieto began work on Aug. 1.
“We are excited that Manny has joined the organization as executive director,” noted Edward Rada, chair of the theatre’s board of directors, in a statement. “His deep passion for the variety of programming at Boston Court, as well as his commitment to building community partnerships and expanding relationships for the organization, make him the perfect person to partner with Jessica to lead the organization into its next 20 years.” Added Kubzansky in a statement, “I could not be more thrilled to work with Manny, whose advocacy and creative strategic thinking I so admire. I am delighted by the opportunity to dream the organization forward together.”
Prieto comes to Boston Court from Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in Beverly Hills, where he served as director of education. From 2015 to 2022, he served as executive director of Los Angeles Music and Art School, where he programmed and produced multidisciplinary performances for new and diverse audiences, launched the Young Professionals Board (comprising millennials interested in philanthropy), led the development of two five-year strategic plans, and more than doubled the budget to $1,500,000 annually. Prieto holds a Master’s in Nonprofit Management from Antioch University and BFA in Theatre Design from the University of Southern California.
“I am humbled and inspired to serve as Boston Court’s new executive director,” noted Prieto. “A long-time admirer of BC, I am tremendously excited for the opportunity to lead an organization that holds a torch for artistic audacity, and I’m delighted to work in tandem with Jessica, who has been committed to the organization since its inception.”
Boston Court Pasadena is a nonprofit arts center that aims to create and nurture innovative, boundary-pushing art that invokes the power of collective imagination to illuminate our common humanity. BCP was founded in 2003 by philanthropist Z. Clark Branson and founding producing director Eileen T’Kaye. As of 2021, its budget stood close $1.2 million.
