Young Audiences New Jersey & Eastern Pennsylvania’s Board of Trustees announced that President & CEO Laurence Capo plans to retire at the end of the year. Capo’s decision to step down will bring to a close 26 years of service to Young Audiences—16 years as a trustee and 10 years as the organization’s leader. Capo will remain with Young Audiences until a replacement is found to ensure a smooth and successful transition.
Capo’s tenure as President & CEO has been a period of strong collaborations with artists, educators, other state arts education organizations and funders. He led two important mergers with the Institute for Arts and Humanities Education in 2009 and, more recently, with Young Audiences of Eastern Pennsylvania in 2011. The results of these mergers served to expand YA’s territory and deepen its programming.
Under Capo’s leadership, Young Audiences surpassed its $3.1 million capital campaign goal to establish the organization’s first endowment and scholarship fund. The culmination of the campaign will be celebrated on June 17th.
Capo currently serves on the board of trustees for the New Jersey Theatre Alliance, NJ ArtPride, Creative New Jersey and the New Jersey Arts Education Partnership. Prior to his work at Young Audiences he held leadership positions at Rider University, McCarter Theatre, Michael Graves Architects and Farewell Mills and Gatsch, Architects.
Founded in 1973, Young Audiences New Jersey & Eastern Pennsylvania is the largest and most comprehensive arts in education resource in the region. YA professional artists bring high-quality performances and artist-in-residence programs to over 700 NJ and Eastern PA schools and reach nearly 500,000 children each year.
As a non-profit organization, Young Audiences receives funding from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State and Pennsylvania Council of the Arts, the National Endowment for the Arts, foundations, corporations and generous individuals. President Clinton awarded the National Medal of Arts to the Young Audiences national network in 1997.
