Lunch Meeting March 31: Christopher L. Harrington, Ordway President and CEO

Christopher L. Harrington, Ordway President and CEO, has a passion for connecting people from all walks of life through arts and culture and has a successful track record in audience development, revenue generation strategy, innovative programming, and leadership. Harrington joined the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts in Saint Paul, Minnesota as its 12th President and CEO and provides strategic and community leadership that leverages the expertise of the board and staff in advancing and championing the Ordway's mission, vision, and values for the benefit of the community. He oversees the organization’s wide variety of performing arts, community engagement, and education programming which take place in state of the industry campus featuring a 1,900-seat Music Theater and the 1,093-seat Concert Hall.

 

Before joining the Ordway, Harrington served as the Detroit Symphony Orchestra’s Senior Director of Jazz and @ The Max, where he was responsible for marketing, programming local, national, and international talent, and ensuring a sustainable business model. Harrington also worked in various capacities for the Detroit Jazz Festival and WDET-FM, Detroit’s NPR station.

 

He holds a Master of Business Administration and a Bachelor of Music from Wayne State University. He completed National Arts Strategies' eight-month Executive Program in Arts & Culture Strategy, a partnership with the University of Pennsylvania, and a ten-month intensive leadership program with the League of American Orchestras.

 

 Harrington served as a proud mentor in Wayne State University's Mike Ilitch School of Business Corporate Mentor Program, and has served on grant review committees, on the executive team for Detroit Young Professionals, and as a panelist at national conferences. A trusted advocate for the arts and local community, Harrington currently serves on the boards of Live Arts Centers of North American (LACNA) Foundation, the Saint Paul Downtown Alliance, the Children’s Minnesota Foundation Board, and the Arts Partnership, a unique collaboration comprising Minnesota Opera, The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, Schubert Club, and the Ordway. Harrington is the recipient of the inaugural Marlowe Stoudamire Award for Innovation and Community Collaboration, presented by the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and the Wayne State University’s Arts Achievement Award.