General Manager

Job Description: General Manager -- Venice Music Project

Venice Music Project invites listeners on a journey through time, where Venetian Baroque music comes back to life in the very places where it was first heard. Founded in 2013, the non-profit association has become a leading reference point for the research, restoration, and promotion of a musical heritage that lay silent for more than two centuries. Like the patient restoration of an artwork that gradually brings its colors back to light, Venice Music Project returns forgotten works to the stage, offering the emotion of often first-time performances deeply rooted in the city’s history, performances such as those featured in the documentary Venetian Mysteries: The Lost Music, produced in collaboration with the Buccleuch Living Heritage Trust.

We’re seeking a person who has a track record of working collaboratively with creative people. Great people-management skills are essential for success in this position.

The successful candidate will work collaboratively with our founder and President, Liesl Odenweller, to manage current operations. The General Manager will work with Liesl and Board members to create and execute the strategy to grow the organization in support of our strategic vision: making Venice Music Project the leading European not-for-profit organization dedicated to discovering, restoring, and performing lost Baroque musical gems, while also performing known Baroque masterworks. This is a high-profile position, involving representing VMP to the press, the Venetian community, and the European classical/Baroque music community. It also involves working with the boards of both the US and Italian organizations.

Responsibilities include:

1. Line management responsibility for staff, including our contract bookkeeper, contract web manager, marketing volunteer (living in the US), contract ticketing software firm, local marketing personnel, box office manager and employees who work our concerts, and other occasional collaborators.

2. Participation in the creation of annual budgets and responsibility for managing the budget.

3. Managing the crafting of marketing/communications programs, along with others, and managing program execution.

4. Working with our bookkeeper to ensure musicians are properly paid and taxed, and that all required documentation is in order.

5. Attending concerts on a regular basis, and getting to know local subscribers; providing information and support to our supporters and audiences.

A working knowledge of the Classical and Baroque musical worlds in Europe and, preferably, in the UK and/or US is important. S/he will preferably be bilingual (English and Italian, with excellent spoken and written skills in at least one, if not both) and other languages are a bonus. Experience in managing classical music organizations in Europe is a bonus, and management experience at a high level is preferred. Strong organizational skills and attention to detail are essential, as are flexibility and a “can-do” attitude.

Residence in Venice, at least part-time, is highly desirable.

This is initially a 2/3 time position with an Italian contract, evaluated after the first 6 months. We offer a market-competitive salary commensurate with experience and qualifications. Presence in Venice is necessary from March through early June and September through December, the two halves of each concert season. The “preparation” months (January through mid-March, June through August) are more flexible, and at least some remote work is possible.