The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington DC has appointed Michael Kaiser, the executive director of the Royal Opera House in London, president of the multi-venue arts complex on the Potomac.
Kaiser, 47, who will replace outgoing president Lawrence Wilker in February 2001, recently oversaw a renovation of the famed Covent Garden, London, opera house, and was on board during a recent financial turnaround.
Previously, Kaiser was executive director of the American Ballet Theater in New York City and was once head of the Alvin Ailey Dance Theater Foundation. He was also general manager of the Kansas City Ballet of Missouri.
The massive Kennedy Center houses the National Symphony Orchestra, the Opera House, the Terris and Eisenhower theatres, among other spaces.
-- By Kenneth Jones