The Board of Governors of The Banff Centre is pleased to welcome Jeff Melanson as the Centre’s new president. The appointment follows on an unprecedented $120-million revitalization of the Banff campus, and a renewed commitment to the support of new creative work across artistic disciplines.
"We are looking forward to building on 78 years of success and creativity under Jeff Melanson's leadership," says Jeff Kovitz QC, chair of the Banff Centre Board of Governors.
A trained singer and leading arts manager, Jeff Melanson was most recently executive director and co-CEO of Canada’s National Ballet School, and was previously dean of The Royal Conservatory of Music School. Melanson has emerged as a significant international arts leader, appointed special advisor on Arts and Culture to Toronto mayor Rob Ford in 2010. Since earning his undergraduate degree in music from the University of Manitoba (BMus’98) and Master’s degree in business administration (MBA’99) from Wilfrid Laurier University, Melanson has spent his career to date bringing together his strong arts and business skills in the service of building a more robust arts sector and stronger communities through the arts.
Jeff Melanson is a member of Young Presidents’ Organization, a trustee with the National Guild for Community Arts Education (US) and has been an invited speaker on the role of the arts in community development to arts students and MBA classes from universities across North America and around the world. Melanson was the first arts leader to be appointed one of Canada's Top 40 Under 40 for 2009, and in 2010, he was named Wilfrid Laurier University's MBA Alumnus of the Year.
Melanson takes on the role of president following the retirement of Mary Hofstetter, whose 12 years as president and CEO broadened The Banff Centre’s reach as an international centre for creativity, and deepened its support for artists from across Alberta, Canada, and beyond.
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