Annenberg Performing Arts Center names new chief executive

Robert van Leer is the new executive director and CEO of the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts, the organization announced Thursday.

Van Leer is “an exceptionally accomplished arts administrator highly respected for his breadth of experience with renowned arts organizations in the United States and Europe,” according to a statement from the Annenberg Center. His tenure at “the Wallis” will begin April 1. 

Just prior to his Annenberg appointment, van Leer was the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts’ senior vice president of artistic planning. in that role van Leer oversaw a $90 million budget and expanded the Kennedy Center’s classical and contemporary  programming, including the addition of Hip Hop Culture and Social Impact, according to the Annenberg Center’s statement. 

“Additionally, he led the vision for the 2019 transformative addition of REACH, the Kennedy Center’s first-ever expansion, with flexible indoor and outdoor performance space designed to nurture new artists and expand community,” that statement said. 

Van Leer began his career in arts administration at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City, the Annenberg Center reported. He also was an executive administrator at the Wigmore Hall in London, then as Head of Music and Arts Projects at the Barbican Centre. 

From there van Leer went on to the post of managing director of Nederlands Dans Theatre, where he shifted the company’s mission toward becoming a leading international creative ensemble. 

Van Leer also led Wonderbird UK, “a boutique cultural consultancy that advised cultural and corporate clients on social, cultural, and fundraising policy,” according to the Wallis Annenberg Center. 

“The Wallis’ search committee and our dedicated Board of Directors are confident Robert van Leer is the most qualified person to lead The Wallis in its next evolutionary stage,” Michael Nemeroff, chair of the Wallis Annenberg Center, said in a statement. “As an extremely talented performing arts executive, having run performing arts centers and built teams in various CEO, Managing Director, and senior level leadership roles, he has had the experience and impact we sought. His artistic planning and presenting work has been at the highest levels. He is also tremendously skilled in strategic planning, community relations, fundraising, and board development. 

“As The Wallis heads into its 10th Season, we’ve undergone tremendous artistic growth and achieved notable fiscal and organizational stability, so we believe that Robert, with his visionary leadership, keen creative thinking, and broad world view, will build upon that solid foundation, further elevating The Wallis as a cultural institution of international renown,” said Nemeroff, who led the international search for a new chief executive.

“Having worked together with Robert van Leer in my role at Kennedy Center, I know that he is a sophisticated, very experienced arts administrator and a perfect fit for The Wallis at this time in its development,” Wallis board member David Bohnett said in a statement. “His network of relationships with creative talent and executive leadership in the arts is multi-disciplinary and global. A true community builder, he is driven by a firm belief in the power of the arts to create change, shape society, and uplift underrepresented voices.”

Bohnett chairs of the Wallis’ executive committee, served on the CEO search committee and is also a Kennedy Center trustee.

“Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts is an extraordinary organization with a well-deserved reputation for excellence and innovation,” van Leer said in a statement. “I am honored to assume its leadership and shepherd The Wallis at this exciting time in its history. I look forward to having the opportunity to thoughtfully shape organizational strategies that go beyond the stage and build upon The Wallis’ exceptional artistic, educational and community programs. At this point in my career, I am thrilled to be moving to Los Angeles and committing myself to the Wallis and the creative life of this diverse, complex and ever-changing city.”

Van Leer is a native of Rochester, New York. He holds a fine-arts bachelor’s degree from Carnegie-Mellon University and earned an advanced certification from Columbia University Graduate School of Business, according to the Wallis. He also earned a postgraduate degree in landscape design at the UK’s Inchbald School of Design. 

Van Leer additionally took part in the National Arts Strategies Chief Executive Programs at Harvard Business School, the University of Texas, Austin, and the University of Michigan Stephen M. Ross School of Business, which connect contingents of CEOs seeking to lead change in their organizations, communities and in the cultural field, according to the Wallis. Van Leer has a lot of experience providing board- and executive-level leadership with credentials that include stints with Americans for the Arts, Association of Performing Arts Professionals, International Society for the Performing Arts and the Performing Arts Center Consortium. 

The Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts bears the name of the philanthropist whose original $25 million donation “was instrumental in transforming the former Beverly Hills post office building into an arts complex,” according to the organization’s statement. “The Wallis is a dynamic cultural hub and community resource where local, national and international artists share their artistry with ever-expanding audiences. It is committed to robust and distinctive presentations and education programs curated with both creativity and social impact in mind.” 

Highlighted by its diverse programming that reflects the eclectic terrain of Los Angeles and its location in the world’s entertainment capital, the Wallis has presented more than 350 theater, dance, music, film, cabaret, conversation and family entertainment programs since its opening in 2013, the organization stated. Its productions have been nominated for 79 Ovation Awards and nine LA Drama Critic’s Circle Awards. 

The organization’s campus itself is “a breathtaking 70,000-square-foot facility, celebrating the classic and the modern, has garnered six architectural awards,” according to the statement. It was designed by acclaimed architect Zoltan E. Pali of SPF:architects, and the restored building features the original 1933 Beverly Hills Post Office that is included in the National Register of Historic Places. The post office space “serves as the theater’s dramatic yet welcoming lobby, and includes the contemporary 500-seat, state-of-the-art Bram Goldsmith Theater; the 150-seat Lovelace Studio Theater; an inviting open-air plaza for family, community and other performances; and GRoW @ The Wallis: A Space for Arts Education, where learning opportunities for all ages and backgrounds abound.” 

More information about The Wallis Annenberg Center is available on the organization’s website, TheWallis.org.

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