Celebrating the 2022 WAA Award Recipients
Congratulations to Marc Baylin, Charlotte Lee, Steve Lerian, Christopher K. Morgan, Leah Rosenthal, and Tim Wilson!
The Western Arts Alliance Awards program identifies and acknowledges members and organizations whose innovation, hard work and dedication advance our field and association.
Six WAA Award recipients were announced the 2022 WAA Annual Conference in Calgary last month. Read on to learn more about our awardees and their incredible contributions to the performing arts field.
2022 Emeritus Award
Marc Baylin | Baylin Artists Management
Awarded at retirement or upon leaving the field, the Emeritus Award recognizes outstanding contributions to the field, to the candidate’s organization, and/or to WAA.
Marc’s award was presented by Rebecca Carson, Managing Director of Pepperdine University.
Colleagues know Marc as someone you can always call on for help or advice -- if he is a formal mentor to you or not, if you are doing business together that year or not, if you are an agent, or an artist, or a presenter…
For his extra help and care to the field, for the best chocolates at his WAA showcase each year, and for being the best listener in the business, I am pleased to present this award to our friend, Marc Baylin.
— Rebecca Carson
Rebecca Carson presents Marc’s Emeritus Award; image credit: Julie Vincent Photography
Marc Baylin accepts his Emeritus Award; image credit: Julie Vincent Photography
Marc Baylin has over thirty-five years of experience as an arts entrepreneur, project developer, and artist manager, with extensive expertise in touring, presenting, artist development, and special event management.
Baylin Artists Management sunset in 2021, after 28 years in operation. Marc spent the better part of 2020 navigating the pandemic and assisting the artists with new management. In a new collaboration with Alliance Artist Management, seven companies moved to that roster beginning with the 21-22 season.
Since March of 2021, Marc has served as Artistic Advisor for Penn Live Arts/Annenberg Center at the University of Pennsylvania. He holds a similar role with the Bermuda Festival of the Performing Arts and consults for The Acting Company and Alliance Artist Management. He has consulted in the areas of programming, artist-career development, and artist-manager-presenter relations. Past consultations have been with the Bloomsburg Theatre Ensemble, Dance Alloy, The Institute for Cultural Partnerships, and Pennsylvania Council on the Arts/Pennsylvania Performing Arts on Tour. He is a past president of NAPAMA and a former board member of Western Arts Alliance and Chamber Music America.
Marc is a graduate of Connecticut College, where he received a BA in History with a concentration in Music History.
2022 Service Award
Charlotte Lee | Primo Artists | Performing Arts Managers and Agents Coalition
The Service Award recognizes exceptional volunteer service to Western Arts Alliance, its members, and the field.
Charlotte’s award was presented by Gail Boyd, President of NAPAMA.
Gail Boyd (left) presents the Service Award to Charlotte Lee. Image credit: Julie Vincent Photography
Charlotte was honored for her outstanding and extensive service to the field as the founder of the Performing Arts Managers and Agents Coalition (PAMAC). Charlotte led PAMAC to join the Save Our Stages lobbying effort that ultimately evolved into the Shuttered Venue Operators Grants (SVOG) program, passed into law in December of 2020. The program provided over $16 billion in grants to performing arts organizations impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Charlotte’s feeling was that if there was no one at the table arguing on behalf of agents and and managers, they might be left out of the conversation. So, in May of 2020, she formed PAMAC.
— Gail Boyd
Charlotte Lee is recognized as an industry veteran with over two decades of leadership experience in artist management, entrepreneurship, advocacy and speaking. She is President and Founder of Primo Artists, one of the world’s leading artist management agencies. With 25,000 social media followers, Primo Artists is a trailblazer in the field and one of the only international agencies that offers artist management, social media and public relations services holistically to artists and institutions.
An active advocate, Lee is the founder and leader of PAMAC, Performing Arts Managers & Agents Coalition. She was a principal in leading the industry-wide lobbying effort that led to the enactment of the Shuttered Venue Operators Grants program, providing $16.5 billion in relief to the arts and culture industry – the largest public rescue of the arts and entertainment industry in US history.
Charlotte received the 2022 Western Arts Alliance Service Award in recognition of her advocacy, contributions and leadership on the Shuttered Venues Operators Grant.
Musical America twice named Charlotte a Top 30 Professional of the Year: in the 2015 inaugural edition recognizing influencers in the classical music business, and in the 2021 edition applauding heroes of the industry who saved the day during the pandemic.
2022 Emeritus Award
Steve Lerian | Cal Poly Arts
Awarded at retirement or upon leaving the field, the Emeritus Award recognizes outstanding contributions to the field, to the candidate’s organization, and/or to WAA.
Steve’s award was presented by David Fischer, Executive Director of Tacoma Arts Live.
Steve Lerian is one of those performing arts leaders who we immediately think of when we need advice, artistic appreciation, networking, a good laugh, or a shoulder to lean on. He has always leads with kindness.
Few have as much passion and commitment to discovering new artists… even fewer have been as dedicated and service-focused within our field as Steve, particularly when it comes to mentoring and supporting the next generation of leaders.
— David Fischer
Steve Lerian retired in 2021 from his role as Director of Cal Poly Arts, a position he held since 2008. Prior to his arrival in San Luis Obispo, Steve was the founding Executive Director of Kirkland Performance Center in Kirkland, WA from 1993 to 2008.
Other work history includes positions as Managing Director of The Bathhouse Theatre in Seattle, Program Manager for Safaris, Inc. in Seattle, Founding Artistic Director for Tahoe Actors Theatre in Tahoe City, CA, and various directorial positions as an independent theater artist.
A Southern California native, Lerian holds a BA in Drama from the University of Southern California and an MFA in Directing from Wayne State University in Detroit. In his role at Cal Poly Arts, he was responsible for all performing arts programming, including oversight of the Poly Arts for Youth educational outreach program.
Steve has been married to Lori Lerian for 34 years, is a member of the Rotary Club of San Luis Obispo de Tolosa, and volunteers as a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA)
David Fischer (right) presents the Emeritus Award to Steve Lerian; image credit: Julie Vincent Photography
2022 Mentoring Award
Christopher K. Morgan | Christopher K. Morgan & Artists
The Mentoring Award recognizes excellence in mentoring and a commitment to the professional advancement of the western performing arts community.
Christopher’s award was presented by Quita Sullivan, Senior Program Director for Theater at New England Foundation for the Arts.
Quita Sullivan (right) presents the Mentoring Award to Christopher K. Morgan
Christopher embodies the very best qualities of a mentor: a skill for deep listening, empathy, curiosity, wisdom balanced by humility, and a choreographer’s eye for the one tiny note or suggestion that helps an associate adjust and excel.
He has a genuine desire to support the success of others — whether that’s in his company, Christopher K. Morgan & Artists, in his institutional work at Dance Place or the Maui Arts & Cultural Center, or as an Kanaka Maoli — Native Hawaiian — where, as student or mentee himself, Christopher’s work honors the culture bearers whose knowledge and traditions guide his own path.
— From Christopher’s awards nomination
Christopher K. Morgan is Vice President of Programming at the Maui Arts & Cultural Center where he curates music, dance, and theater performances, oversees the Schaefer International Gallery, and an arts education program that serves thousands of Hawai'i youth, adults, and educators. Christopher was Executive Artistic Director of Dance Place (Washington, DC) from 2017-2021, stewarding the organization through the triple pandemics of 2020-2021 maintaining the entire staff with no layoffs or furloughs and continuing to pay artists and teachers.
Christopher founded dance company Christopher K. Morgan & Artists, in 2011; the same year Dance Magazine profiled him as one of six breakout choreographers in the United States. His choreographic work has received support from Creative Capital, New England Foundation for the Arts, National Performance Network, Dance USA, Native Arts and Cultures Foundation, and Western Arts Alliance.
Teaching credits include American University (2011 - 14), University of Maryland (2014 - 17) and residencies at over 25 institutions in the US and abroad. Since 2006 Christopher has also directed Art Omi: Dance, an annual collaborative residency for international choreographers in New York.
In March, 2022 Christopher was confirmed by Congress to join the National Council on the Arts. He serves on the board of the National Performance Network, and is co-chair of the 2023 Association of Performing Arts Professionals Annual Conference. He lives in Makawao, Hawai'i with his husband, opera director Kyle Lang.
2022 Leadership Award
Leah Rosenthal | La Jolla Music Society
The Leadership Award honors extraordinary vision, distinguished leadership, and artistic achievement.
Leah’s award was presented by Jason Belz, Executive Vice President at Kirshbaum Associates, Inc.
Leah is someone I have watched with great admiration grow into a brilliant and incredible leader with a deep passion for bringing the best of the best to her community.
Her compassionate, positive and encouraging nature, as well as her ability to gather consensus and build relationships, is a hallmark of her excellent leadership skills, as is her quest to constantly learn, grown and evolve.
She is always thinking about new ways to highlight and showcase artists in creative and impactful ways, and has proven herself to be a leader of utmost integrity.
— Jason Belz
Leah Rosenthal currently serves as the Artistic Director for La Jolla Music Society (LJMS). Leah is responsible for the curation and long range planning of LJMS’ dynamic, multi-disciplinary presenting season as well as the planning and execution of SummerFest, LJMS’ three week annual chamber music festival in collaboration with SummerFest Music Director, Inon Barnatan. In addition, she oversees LJMS’ Education Program, where she has reimagined and instituted key educational initiatives and developed strategic partnerships with educational leaders in the community. Leah served as a board member for eight years and most recently Vice President of California Presenters, a statewide coalition of organizations committed to advancing professional touring and presenting of the performing arts.
Before moving to California, Leah was active in the Chicago arts scene, holding coveted positions with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, PBS (WTTW), Ravinia Festival, Chicago International Film Festival, and NARAS (GRAMMYs). Leah earned her Master’s degree in Performing Arts Management at Columbia College of Chicago after her undergraduate studies in Vocal Performance at Boston University and NEIU.
Jason Belz (right) presents the Leadership award to Leah Rosenthal; image credit: Julie Vincent Photography
Inaugural Tim Wilson Distinguished Service Award
Tim Wilson | Western Arts Alliance
The Distinguished Service Award honors members who have made an outstanding impact on the performing arts touring and presenting field in the West.
For 2022 and in perpetuity, the award was renamed in honor of WAA’s longstanding and beloved executive director, Tim Wilson, who stepped down from WAA in September 2022 after 25 years of exemplary service.
Tim’s award was presented by Joe Mclalwain, WAA Board President and Founding Executive Director at Edmonds Center for the Arts; Tim was also honored by David Fischer, Executive Director of Tacoma Arts Live at the Conference Closing.
Tim Wilson with WAA Vice President Antonio Gómez (left) and WAA President Joe Mclalwain (right); image credit: Julie Vincent Photography
Tim, you have stood as a beacon of empathy-building, helping our community of presenters, artists and managers stay on the right path amidst the chaos of modern life.
We owe you a debt of deep gratitude for helping keep us all stay relevant and in service to the best of our aspirations.
— David Fischer
Tim Wilson served as Executive Director of Western Arts Alliance (WAA) for 25 years — from 1997 — 2022.
Under Tim’s leadership, WAA has undertaken programs to encourage and support the participation of marginalized artists and communities, including Advancing Indigenous Performance, a national initiative to build capacity and networks for First Nations performance. Tim frequently presents at meetings and conferences on the performing arts including APAP, Shanghai Performing Arts Fair, the Government of Quebec Ministerial Forum, China Association for the Performing Arts, Pacific Contact, and Oregon Arts Commission.
From 1993 - 1997, Tim was Executive Director of Alaska State Council on the Arts. Early in his career, he served eight years as a Program Manager at Sealaska Heritage, a tribal foundation serving the Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian people of Southeast Alaska.
Tim holds a BA in Cinema from the University of Southern California.
Do your colleagues deserve kudos? Nominate them for a 2023 WAA Award!