Jaclyn Dentino (’15)

Jaclyn Dentino (she/her/hers) is an arts administrator, flutist, and flute teacher active in the Greater Boston Area. She earned her B.A. in Music Performance from Case Western Reserve University in cooperation with the Cleveland Institute of Music in Cleveland, Ohio, and her M.S. in Arts Administration and Graduate Certificate in Fundraising Management from Boston University. Jaclyn currently works as the Executive Director of Emmanuel Music.

Tell me about yourself, when did your artistic journey begin? What led you to get your masters in Arts Administration at BU?

My artistic journey began when I was seven years old. My parents are both music teachers, my mom teaches the flute and my dad teaches the clarinet and saxophone. When I was seven, I thought there were only those three instruments to choose from and of those three I wanted to learn the flute. When I was nine my parents took me to see a professional production of The Phantom of the Opera at the Wang Theatre. We joke now because it doesn’t seem age appropriate for a sensitive nine-year-old– I was pretty terrified of the phantom, the murders and the chandelier– but that was the first time I saw so many different art forms in one place in musical theater, between the orchestra, singing, and the costumes. I had a moment where I realized that this was my thing and this was what I wanted to do.

I continued with flute and went to camp, did districts in high school, and in college I majored in performance. At the time I felt like my only two options were to perform or teach. My dad was my high school band director, so I saw what that job is, working in a public school and being a music teacher there. He loved it, he was excellent at it, but it was very much not for me. I thought then that I will perform so I can make money with music. However, I had raging performance anxiety, and it was not until my junior year of college when my flute teacher said to me, “you know, someone has to run the orchestra.” I was 21 when I discovered arts administration. I never knew it was a thing and I didn’t know it was a career, or that someone would have to run the orchestra behind the scenes.  That lined everything up for me. I knew by the time I was finishing undergrad that I wanted to do a Masters in Arts Administration. For me it was between BU and NYU, but I wanted to come home. I had spent four years in Ohio and I didn’t want to move to New York, so I stayed home and went to BU which was great.

How has the Arts Administration program helped with your career trajectory? Do you have a favorite course that you took?

I don’t know what I would have done without the program. By the time I finished undergrad I also had a major in Spanish because I kept taking courses and eventually, I had enough credits. Even graduating from a good undergrad institution where I had a nice general education, I could play flute very well, I could speak Spanish, and that was not getting me jobs when I was 22. I was having a really hard time getting my foot in the door of the arts administration industry. The first-year home from college, I took one year off between undergrad and grad school, I was working seven days a week as a waitress, bank teller, and an unpaid intern just trying to get started. I really didn’t know anything about arts administration. The program taught me everything that I needed to know. It built me a network; I got my first job in the industry from the arts admin job bank and I got my first job out of the program through a contact that I had through the program. I really feel like my career is my career because of the arts admin program.

I liked a lot of the courses. I could have taken more and been perfectly happy. The Managing Performing Arts Organizations course was really helpful for me. At the time it was taught by Rich Maloney who was the Assistant Director of the Program. I wanted to manage performing arts organizations so that was really a good fit.

What does your job as Executive Director of Emmanuel Music entail?

Emmanuel Music is a fairly small organization. We are scaling rapidly: our operating budget and staff have doubled in the past three years and the job is changing as a result. We have about 16 staff members and 4-6 student interns and employees, almost all of whom are my direct reports. We have a dual leadership model. The Artistic Director, Ryan Turner is responsible for picking the repertoire, hiring the musicians, rehearsing, and our artistic vision. I oversee pretty much everything else. Anything that is strategic leadership, board liaison, HR, marketing, engagement, organizational finance, and I also serve as the major gifts officer. We have two other full-time fundraising staff that I oversee, and I serve with our major gifts.

I have constant responsibilities and my to-do list is always getting longer. I never feel like I am in a “good place” with my work, there are always a million more things that I could do. Most of my day is in meetings or in conversation with my staff and external partners or donors. I feel a lot of the time like I am in meetings, and action items come out of those meetings, but I never have time to get them done. Yet, I manage to stay on top of it somehow. All of the organizational help for Emmanuel Music is in my purview.

In your opinion, what is the most rewarding aspect about leading an arts organization?

For me, it’s about the people. I think with arts organizations there’s a lot of conversation about the art and how do we respect the art and “art for art’s sake” versus arts for sociopolitical reasons. I don’t really find respecting the art for art as much anymore. I used to when I was in college in Cleveland. I would see people at the symphony wearing jeans and I thought it was so disrespectful of the art. But the art is made by people, and the art is made for people. Otherwise, why are we making it? For me it has really come back to the people and I feel very fortunate to have been exposed to a lot of arts and culture as a kid and my whole life. I know I got a lot of benefit from it personally, in terms of making music together, and learning how to practice and persevere.

I feel very strongly that access to arts and culture is a human right and not a privilege, especially at a time where there is a lot of cultural gatekeeping and barriers to entry. What I am really passionate about in the arts administration sector is reducing and eliminating those barriers to entry as much as I can. That is one of the reasons I switched from performing to administration. I felt like I would be able to make more of a difference on the advocacy side, and on the leadership side, than if I were a musician in the orchestra. I think our industry is at a really crucial time in terms of relevance, access, DEI, and what exactly our art and culture is like for our people. That drives everything that I do in my work. The sheer amount of work that goes into one concert: financial management, fundraising, HR, marketing. Then we have one concert and it’s done. That’s a lot of work for a short amount of time. But it is seeing the people that come into the concert that makes it all worth it. Seeing their response to it, whether they loved it or whether they didn’t. Whether they brought their kids in pajamas and left at intermission because they can. It’s really about having those human connections through the art that drives me.

You say you are interested in “modernizing arts organizations to embrace digital audiences and adopt anti-racism efforts in all aspects of operations.” What work have you and Emmanuel Music done towards these goals?

We have done a fair amount already. I really believe that anti-racism, DEI, and access efforts start with us. It starts within the organization. That means we need to see who is on our board. When I started at Emmanuel Music in 2021, we had an entirely white and predominately male board. Now 33% of our board are people of color. Emmanuel Music has been around for 54 years. Most of our people are well versed in classical music and the music of J.S. Bach. All of the staff have at least one music degree. I have to think, how are we going to reach audiences who don’t have this music experience? If every time we open our mouths we sound like a musicology textbook, how are we reaching people that way? It was very important to me that I add people to our board who bring a diversity of perspective, in all of these areas. I very intentionally put people on our board who do not know anything about classical music so we can get that perspective and start thinking about how we introduce classical music to those who know nothing about it and have been historically excluded from our space.

It trickles down to our hiring practices. I don’t post a salary range, I post what the salary is with the idea that some people know how to negotiate for themselves better than others, because of sociopolitical reasons. I am not going to make people negotiate for themselves, I am going to pay for the job what I can pay for the job and find the right person for it. We have a hybrid-remote set up. I have an employee who is a single mom and her work schedule is a little bit different based off her child care, and that’s okay. It’s taking down rigidity internally so that people can be human beings and bring their full selves to their jobs.

In terms of our audiences, one of the first things we did was eliminate tiered ticket prices. Emmanuel Music turned to a pay-what-you-can model. Most of our performances are free and open to the public. To the ones that are ticketed, we moved to pay-what-you-can and general admission. If you are not able to pay a lot you don’t get thrown in the back and where you sit is not based on ability to pay. We advertise that if people need to leave at intermission, they are welcome to do so. If someone is bringing a family member who is neurodivergent and they are not sure they will be able to make it through the whole concert, they don’t have to pay $75 for the ticket. If you need to go it is not a huge loss.

We have done a lot of partnerships with the Boston Public Library. We send solo musicians into four, going to be five, branches of the Boston Public Library, mostly in east Boston, Jamaica Plain and Dorchester. We let them play solo for an hour or two and people can drop in and leave whenever they want. We have partnered with Kwong Kow Chinese School to do a movement class with solo musicians and a movement instructor for kids. We partner with a lot of other community events. We have partnered with Urban League of Eastern Massachusetts and we provide tickets to their community. It’s a lot of effort to go out into the community instead of always making people come to us. And also trying to reduce this image of a symphony orchestra where you have to dress up, you have to be educated in music, you have to pay a lot of money. Rather to say, if you are curious, come find us. For anyone who is curious, there is a space for you here.

Have you ever faced a challenging time or crossroads in your career? How did you overcome it?

I wouldn’t say a crossroads because I have been very fortunate that I have had a clear vision of what I wanted to do and have been able to find my way here. It was hard to get started in this field. My first full-time job was not a good fit for me. To me the environment was very stressful, I was 23 and I was making something like $28,000 per year, so I couldn’t get out of there fast enough. I also went through a period where I felt really guilty leaving organizations for a new opportunity. I try to discourage people who are early in their careers for feeling that way. The reality is if they are going to make you feel bad for leaving or if the organization can’t function without you, that is not an organization you want to work. I really preach taking opportunities as they come. Even if you have only been somewhere for a year or a year and a half, and you think it would be really inconvenient for the organization if you left. The organization will be fine. Take the next opportunity to move your career forward.

I struggled with this feeling of chomping at the bit. I was so eager to move up in my career and eager to do the one thing that I very much wanted to do that I sometimes felt impatient in other positions. Guilt and impatience were themes that I felt in my 20’s. I was very fortunate to get an Executive Director position when I was 31. Now I feel like I have outgrown those other feelings for the most part. I was always on a clear path and I am fortunate to say so, but getting there came with a lot of emotions, which happens when you are passionate about the work.

What are some of the biggest challenges you see facing the arts world today?

The first challenge is money. We saw an 8.4% inflation this past year, and cost-of-living expenses are insane. Our union musicians negotiated a 6% raise and we budgeted for 3.5%. Everything is more expensive and it just keeps getting more expensive, and it will forever get more expensive. We are at a time when people have had a lot of their own financial challenges with the pandemic. We are also at a time when there are a lot of really good causes to donate to. Anything from the environment, ACLU, Planned Parenthood, Black Lives Matter; there are a lot of really great social causes to give to. The arts aren’t always viewed as important, and people take them for granted. Usually the arts make between 6-7% of all giving to philanthropic organizations and now that is down to about 5%. The funding pie is getting smaller as the expenses are increasing. Every organization at every size is going to see that, and that is very discouraging. I think our industry is going to have to take a very serious and honest look at what our financial structures are and what our models for sustainability are. Relying on a last-minute gift from a donor is a band aid approach that is unsustainable.

The other challenge is DEI and access. I think that is something we are facing a lot in classical music organizations. We are built on a tradition of Western European composers. How do we as an industry cultivate young artists, new composers, address cultural gatekeeping, and present relevant and equitable for our communities? How to we make it affordable and accessible for our communities? This idea of losing earned revenue because we are trying to be accessible at a time when we are really tight for money is hard. Unfortunately, it all does come down to a bottom line, and we need to be really honest with ourselves in the industry about the people. Who are we making this for and what are our financial plans for 3-5 years out?

If you had to interview someone for your position, what skillsets would you want them to have?

Organization skills are top. People skills. Be comfortable meeting new people and being a public face for the organization, and having conversations with a wide variety of people. Passion for the work, with the ability to manage your own time and set boundaries to take care of yourself so you don’t burnout doing the work. Those are the top three: organization skills, people skills, and time management.

Do you have any advice for current or prospective students?

Get out of your head. Take the opportunities as they come. Don’t overthink networking. If you know someone who has a job that you would really like to have, find them on LinkedIn, send them and email, and invite them for coffee. If they don’t want to meet with you then you probably don’t want to meet them anyway. The worst they can say is no. Whatever you can do to build your resume quickly, and whatever hustle you have to do whether you are working full-time and part-time, volunteering, or on a board of directors for your local arts center. Don’t sell yourself short and build that resume as quickly as you can.

Interview conducted by Cassie Pearson.