THE OPPORTUNITY

 

Gay Men's Chorus of Los Angeles (GMCLA), one of the nation's most prominent LGBTQ+ performing arts organizations, seeks an experienced, dynamic, and entrepreneurial leader to serve as its next Chief Executive Officer & Executive Producer.

 

Founded in 1979, GMCLA has built an extraordinary legacy at the intersection of music, community, advocacy, and social change. From its earliest days in the emerging gay rights movement, through the devastating years of the AIDS crisis, the fight for marriage equality, and today's continuing work for equality and acceptance, GMCLA has used the power of music to entertain, inspire, educate, and bring people together.

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As GMCLA prepares for its Fiftieth Anniversary in 2029, it is in a position of organizational and financial strength. Over the past eight years, the organization has balanced budgets, strengthened its reserves and endowment, expanded and diversified its community programming, secured extraordinary foundation support, maintained the quality of its performances, and extended its reach locally, nationally, and internationally. GMCLA's nearly 200 volunteer singers are at the heart of the organization. Its annual concert season combines ambitious choral performance with theatrical production, guest artists, choreography, lighting, sound, video, and other elements designed to create memorable experiences for contemporary audiences. The Chorus also maintains a significant presence throughout the Los Angeles community through free performances, partnerships, special events, and its education and outreach programs.

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GMCLA has performed at celebrated venues including Walt Disney Concert Hall, Carnegie Hall, the Hollywood Bowl, and Amsterdam's Concertgebouw, and has toured extensively in the United States and internationally. The Chorus has just returned from a groundbreaking 10-day European Tour with sold-out concerts in Amsterdam and London.  Its Alive Music Project has brought music and a message of acceptance and hope to tens of thousands of young people throughout Southern California.

 

The next CEO & Executive Producer will have the opportunity to build upon this extraordinary legacy while helping define GMCLA's future in one of the world's most diverse, creative, and influential cities.

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THE POSITION

 

Reporting to the Board of Directors through its Chair, the CEO & Executive Producer is the chief staff executive of Gay Men's Chorus of Los Angeles and has overall responsibility for the leadership, management, financial sustainability, fundraising, audience development, external relations, operations, and production activities of the organization.

 

The CEO & Executive Producer supervises the Artistic Director, Development Director, and Administrative Manager, oversees production personnel, and manages relationships with contracted professionals and firms providing services including marketing, communications, bookkeeping, accounting, and other organizational functions.

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The CEO works in close partnership with the Board of Directors to establish organizational priorities and long-range strategies and is responsible for translating those priorities into effective programs, budgets, fundraising initiatives, audience-development efforts, and operations.

 

As Executive Producer, the CEO & Executive Producer holds overall responsibility for the successful production and presentation of GMCLA's performances and events. Working in close partnership with the Artistic Director, the CEO ensures that artistic plans are supported by effective production management, appropriate resources, realistic schedules, and sound financial planning. The Artistic Director retains responsibility for artistic vision, programming, repertoire, and the musical and artistic standards of the Chorus, while the CEO oversees the operational, financial, and production elements necessary to bring that vision to life.

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LEADERSHIP & ORGANIZATIONAL MANAGEMENT

 

• Provide strategic and operational leadership for GMCLA and ensure that the organization's programs and activities advance its mission while supporting long-term financial and institutional sustainability.

• Work closely with the Board Chair and Board of Directors to develop organizational priorities, long-range plans, annual budgets, and strategies for growth.

• Recruit, supervise, support, and evaluate senior staff, including the Artistic Director, Development Director, and Administrative Manager, while fostering a collaborative, accountable, and high-performing organizational culture.

• Maintain rigorous oversight of GMCLA's financial operations, working with bookkeeping, accounting, audit, and financial professionals to ensure responsible budgeting, reporting, internal controls, cash management, and long-term fiscal health.

• Ensure that organizational resources are deployed effectively and that artistic and programmatic ambitions are appropriately balanced with financial realities and institutional priorities.

• Demonstrated ability to collaborate effectively with artistic leadership, balancing artistic ambition with financial sustainability, production requirements, and organizational strategy while respecting the Artistic Director's responsibility for artistic direction.

 

FUNDRAISING, MARKETING & AUDIENCE DEVELOPMENT

 

The CEO & Executive Producer serves as one of GMCLA's principal fundraisers and is responsible for building the contributed and earned revenue necessary to sustain and grow the organization. Working with the Development Director, Board, staff, consultants, and volunteers, the CEO will cultivate relationships with individual donors, foundations, corporations, government agencies, community partners, and other supporters.

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• Lead the organization's overall fundraising strategy and participate actively in the cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship of major donors and institutional funders.

• Build strong relationships with foundations and other institutional partners and identify new sources of contributed revenue.

• Work closely with the Board of Directors to strengthen Board participation in fundraising and donor cultivation.

• Oversee marketing, communications, ticketing, and audience-development strategies designed to maintain existing audiences while reaching new and increasingly diverse constituencies.

• Monitor ticket sales, audience behavior, pricing, subscription and single-ticket strategies, marketing effectiveness, and other indicators affecting earned revenue and attendance.

• Ensure that GMCLA maintains a compelling, contemporary, and consistent public identity across advertising, digital communications, social media, public relations, and institutional messaging.

 

COMMUNITY & EXTERNAL RELATIONS

 

The CEO & Executive Producer is the chief institutional spokesperson for GMCLA and an important public representative of the organization and its mission.

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The CEO will maintain and expand relationships throughout Los Angeles and the broader arts, LGBTQ+, philanthropic, civic, business, and entertainment communities and will represent GMCLA at public events, fundraising activities, community gatherings, media appearances, and other opportunities as appropriate.

 

The CEO will also work closely with GMCLA's chorus leadership, particularly the Chorus Membership President and Membership Committee, to maintain strong communication and alignment between the professional management of the organization and its volunteer singer membership. This relationship is essential to preserving GMCLA's unique culture: an organization in which professional artistic and administrative leadership works in partnership with a large and deeply committed volunteer membership.

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THE CANDIDATE

 

GMCLA seeks a proven executive who combines strong nonprofit management skills with entrepreneurial energy, financial discipline, fundraising ability, creativity, and a genuine enthusiasm for live performance.

 

The successful candidate will be comfortable operating in both the boardroom and the theater - equally capable of discussing a multi-year financial strategy, cultivating a major donor, evaluating a marketing campaign, speaking before an audience, negotiating with a venue, and collaborating with artists and production professionals.

 

• A minimum of 10 years of progressively responsible nonprofit management experience, with significant senior or executive leadership experience.

• Experience in performing arts management strongly preferred.

• Demonstrated success in fundraising, including individual giving, major gifts, foundation and institutional support, donor cultivation, and working collaboratively with boards on development.

• Significant understanding of marketing and audience development, including the rapidly changing environment for attracting, communicating with, and retaining contemporary arts audiences.

• Strong financial management skills, including experience developing and managing organizational and production budgets and interpreting financial reports.

• Demonstrated ability to supervise senior professional staff and outside consultants and to create accountability while encouraging collaboration.

• Experience working effectively with a nonprofit Board of Directors.

• Excellent communication and public-speaking skills and the presence and judgment necessary to serve as an institutional spokesperson.

• Experience developing relationships with community leaders, foundations, corporations, civic organizations, donors, artists, and other external stakeholders.

• An understanding of live performance and theatrical production is highly desirable.

• Knowledge of music and/or choral music is a plus but is not required.

• A demonstrated ability to work effectively with volunteers and an appreciation for the distinctive culture of a membership-based performing arts organization.

• A strong commitment to GMCLA's mission and to the values of equality, inclusion, artistic excellence, and service to the LGBTQ+ and greater Los Angeles communities.

 

LOS ANGELES & GMCLA'S NEXT CHAPTER

 

Los Angeles offers an extraordinary environment in which to lead a performing arts organization. It is a global center of entertainment, music, media, philanthropy, and cultural innovation and home to one of the largest and most diverse LGBTQ+ communities in the world.

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GMCLA occupies a distinctive place within that landscape. For nearly five decades, the Chorus has demonstrated that extraordinary entertainment and meaningful purpose can coexist. Its performances celebrate music and community while its voice has helped chronicle–and influence–some of the most consequential chapters in LGBTQ+ history.

 

As GMCLA approaches its fifth decade, the organization is positioned to ask an exciting question: What should one of America's great LGBTQ+ choruses become next?

 

The next CEO & Executive Producer will inherit an organization with a remarkable history, a committed membership, established artistic and community programs, a strengthened financial foundation, and significant opportunities for continued growth. GMCLA seeks a leader who respects that history, but is excited by the opportunity to write its next chapter.

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COMPENSATION & BENEFITS

 

The anticipated salary range for this position is $140,000-$180,000, commensurate with the experience and qualifications of the successful candidate.

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GMCLA offers a competitive benefits package, including employer-supported health insurance and participation in the organization's 401(k) retirement plan with Safe Harbor contribution, as well as paid vacation, holidays, and other benefits consistent with GMCLA policies.

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TO APPLY

 

Candidates should submit a letter of interest and resume describing their relevant experience and interest in the position to:

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CEO Search Committee
Gay Men's Chorus of Los Angeles
gmclasearch@coastwentytwo.com

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Applications will be reviewed as received and will remain confidential to the extent reasonably possible. We encourage candidates to apply by November 25, 2026 for priority consideration. The position will remain open until filled.

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EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY

 

Gay Men's Chorus of Los Angeles is an equal opportunity employer committed to creating and maintaining an inclusive workplace that reflects the diversity of the communities we serve.

GMCLA welcomes qualified applicants of all backgrounds and does not discriminate in employment on the basis of race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, age, disability, medical condition, genetic information, marital status, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity or expression, military or veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable federal, state, or local law.

GMCLA is committed to providing reasonable accommodations to qualified applicants and employees with disabilities in accordance with applicable law.