Bloomingdale School of Music (“Bloomingdale”) is a nonprofit community music school located on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, serving more than 700 students at its brownstone campus and an additional 200-300 students annually through partnerships with schools and community organizations across New York City. For more than 60 years, Bloomingdale has provided inclusive access to high-quality music education through private lessons, group classes, ensembles, and public programs.

The School’s mission is grounded in the values of access, expression, excellence, and connection, and it proudly serves a diverse, multigenerational community of learners. Bloomingdale’s programs have evolved in response to New York City’s changing educational and cultural landscape. When arts education has been reduced or eliminated in public schools, the School has worked to supplement and complement existing opportunities, offering affordable instruction, ensemble opportunities, and free public concerts that make music a shared and living experience. Signature initiatives such as the Music Access Project (MAP), the Bloomingdale Training Program (BTP), and the ArtsForce 1 youth leadership initiative reflect Bloomingdale’s long-standing commitment to nurturing talent and expanding pathways to lifelong engagement in the arts.

Today, Bloomingdale’s work spans three primary areas:

• Onsite Programs, including after-school and weekend offerings that serve more than 700 students weekly through private lessons, group classes, ensembles, and advanced study tracks.
• Offsite & Community-Based Programs, delivered through partnerships and community initiatives serving 200–300 participants.
• Public Programs, including free and low-cost concerts, recitals, and faculty performances that engage thousands of audience members annually.

Bloomingdale dedicates approximately 12–15% of its annual budget—nearly $300,000 annually—to financial aid and scholarships, ensuring that no student is turned away for f inancial reasons. Over the past five years, more than $1.2 million in aid has been awarded. Guided by its strategic plan, ROADMAP 2027, Bloomingdale continues to expand access and deepen inclusion while remaining grounded in the belief that music should be a bridge, not a barrier. With an annual operating budget of approximately $3 million, Bloomingdale is supported by a Board of Directors and staff numbering approximately 22 full-time staff, 9 part-time staff, and a faculty of 60. Over the past two decades, the School has built a modest but meaningful base of donor-restricted endowment and Board-designated reserves intended to support long-term stewardship and financial resilience.

Bloomingdale is housed in a five-story brownstone owned outright by the School, featuring 14 teaching studios and a recital hall. Outreach programs take place in local schools and community spaces. In recent years, the School has made significant capital investments to modernize instructional spaces, improve accessibility, and upgrade core building systems.

The Opportunity With ROADMAP 2027 nearing completion, Bloomingdale enters this next chapter with a strong foundation: a trusted mission, a deeply engaged community of students, families, faculty, and staff, and a programmatic portfolio shaped by more than six decades of responsiveness to New York City’s cultural and educational landscape. The incoming Executive Director will join an organization seeking thoughtful stewardship—bringing clarity and cohesion to an institution that has grown in complexity while remaining rooted in its values. Like many tuition-based arts and culture organizations, Bloomingdale is operating in a post-pandemic environment marked by slower-than-expected earned revenue recovery, tightening philanthropy, rising costs, and evolving audience and participation patterns.

At the heart of this opportunity is the work of strengthening Bloomingdale’s long-term sustainability in service of access, artistic excellence, and community impact. The next Executive Director will be asked to continue capacity-building work already underway, including role alignment and staffing structure refinement, as well as the evaluation of program delivery and enrollment models to better meet the needs of today’s families. This moment calls for a leader who can balance creativity with discipline—strengthening systems and finances while protecting the vibrancy, humanity, and sense of musical home that define Bloomingdale’s culture. As one stakeholder shared, “There’s just a magic 2 about the place.” Preserving that spirit while strengthening the underlying infrastructure will be central to the work ahead. Just as important, this role offers the opportunity to lead through trust-building and cultural care.

Bloomingdale is a relationship-rich organization with long-tenured faculty and staff, a relatively new Faculty Council, and a Board deeply engaged in the School’s future. For the right leader, this is a rare chance to steward a beloved community institution—translating its values, culture, and ambition into practices that carry its mission forward with resilience and care.

Areas of Focus for the Next Leader The next Executive Director will be expected to focus on the following five interrelated priorities, grounded in stakeholder insight:

• Strengthening long-term sustainability by refining Bloomingdale’s business model and financial systems, with particular attention to cash flow, budgeting discipline, the balance between earned and contributed revenue, and evolving program delivery and enrollment models.
• Expanding fundraising capacity and identifying new and diversified sources of f inancial support.
• Reinforcing a culture of trust, clarity, and cohesion across the organization.
• Completing ROADMAP 2027 and helping define what comes next.
• Ensuring programs evolve with intention, balancing aspirations and responsiveness with organizational capacity and sustainability.

Primary Responsibilities:

Executive Leadership & Strategic Stewardship

• Serve as chief executive of Bloomingdale, providing steady leadership grounded in the School’s mission, history, values, and community role.
• Partner with the Board of Directors to support effective governance, clarify roles and decision-making responsibilities, and ensure people and leadership resources are structured and used effectively.
• Work with the Board and senior leadership to guide strategic planning and organizational direction, with priorities that are clear and translated into action.
• Provide strategic oversight of educational and community-based programming in partnership with the Director of Programs, with a focus on quality, relevance, and alignment with organizational capacity.
• Serve as a visible and inspiring ambassador for Bloomingdale internally and externally, articulating its impact and value to students and families, staff and faculty, funders, partners, and the broader community.

Financial Leadership & Resource Development

• Partner with the Board of Directors in stewarding the School’s financial health, leading day-to-day financial management, including budgeting, forecasting, cash-flow management, and long-range financial planning.
• Collaborate with the Board and the Director of Marketing and Development to strengthen fundraising strategy, donor engagement, and Board participation.
• Cultivate relationships with donors and institutional funders central to Bloomingdale’s mission and programs.
• Ensure ongoing alignment between Bloomingdale’s mission, programmatic offerings, and financial model, recognizing the interplay between access, affordability, and sustainability.

Culture, People & Organizational Health

• Foster a culture of trust, transparency, and respect across faculty, staff, leadership, and the Board.
• Lead and support the senior leadership team, ensuring effective organizational structure, clear roles, and sound decision-making.
• Partner with the Faculty Council to strengthen communication, collaboration, and shared purpose.
• Ensure human resources policies and practices reflect Bloomingdale’s values and support equity, accountability, and the recruitment and retention of a talented, diverse faculty and staff.

Facilities & Operational Oversight

• With the Senior Director of Operations, oversee stewardship of Bloomingdale’s historic brownstone facility, including planning, prioritization, and fundraising for capital maintenance and improvement projects.
• Ensure the facility and operational systems, processes, and infrastructure support program delivery and provide safe, positive experiences for students, families, faculty, and staff.

Bloomingdale has engaged LJN Advisory to partner with them in hiring for this important role.

Please email a cover letter and resume by March 6 to LJN@lornajanenorris.com with “Bloomingdale – ED Application” in the subject line. Attach your cover letter and resume as separate PDF files, and include your last name in each file name. Cover letters should be responsive to the mission and values of Bloomingdale and to the Areas of Focus and responsibilities as laid out in the full position profile. We will begin reviewing applications right away and encourage candidates to apply early. Each application will be acknowledged and given careful attention.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1jm7CqvnLDu2GtgMROZop–Osj4VNrb43/view

Inclusivity & Accessibility Statement