This fall, Bruce Leto ’14 will enter New York University’s two-year master’s program in Performing Arts Administration. This degree is focused on developing skills in marketing, development, accounting, financial planning, and policy, that can be utilized in the management of both for-profit and nonprofit arts organizations.
A music major and classical pianist who studied under music professor and composer Curt Cacioppo, Leto credits his preparedness for graduate work to Haverford’s liberal arts approach to music education. Also helping him to clarify his post-graduation plans was the experience he gained last summer, when he worked as an intern in the development departments of both the Philadelphia Orchestra Association and the Mann Center for the Performing Arts.
“Arts administrators must not only have insight into the business/fiscal aspects of this career,” he says, “They must also understand what music consumers listen to, why they listen to it, the complexities and nuances of performance, demographics of consumers, and compositional trends.”
Leto’s ultimate goal, after graduate school, is to work in the consulting, development, or marketing department of a music organization on the east coast, and help young people gain access to music and the arts. “Pursuing this master’s degree will allow me to combine my musical background and passion for the arts with practical knowledge of the fiscal aspects of arts organizations,” he says. “The arts are not respected as highly as they should be in society, and maybe I can help change that.”
—Kelsey Ryan’14
“Where They’re Headed” is a blog series reporting on the post-Haverford plans of members of the Class of 2014.
Where They’re Headed: Bruce Leto ’14
This fall, Bruce Leto ’14 will enter New York University’s two-year master’s program in Performing Arts Administration.
