Mark Powell named as full-time Executive Director

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 10, 2016
Contact: Mark Powell, Executive Director
503-236-8202 / mark@cappellaromana.org

Mark Powell Named as Full-Time Executive Director

PORTLAND, OR — Cappella Romana’s Board of Directors is pleased to announce the appointment of Mark Powell as its full-time Executive Director effective April 17, 2016. The Board’s action comes with the fullest confidence that Powell will continue to be an excellent steward of Cappella Romana’s mission, and a leader and advocate for its important work, just in time in 2016-17 for Cappella Romana’s 25th Anniversary Season, its most ambitious to date.

In the planning stages for over two years, this appointment is made possible by two significant three-year capacity building grants: from the Meyer Memorial Trust and the M J Murdock Charitable Trust, to which the organization is deeply grateful.

Powell comes to Cappella Romana from Portland Baroque Orchestra, where he served for nearly ten years as its Director of Development and Marketing. During Powell’s tenure, individual annual giving increased over 50% and ticket sale revenue increased by 73%. He was instrumental in fundraising for and promoting special projects as well as a new capacity initiative, funded by a major grant from the Meyer Memorial Trust with support from the Oregon Cultural Trust. Launched when Powell was PBO’s interim executive director last year, this three-year capacity initiative will expand the reach of Portland Baroque Orchestra’s marketing campaigns and the quality of its patron services.

Over twenty years ago (1995) and while still living in Seattle, Powell was invited by his friend and founding artistic director Dr. Alexander Lingas to perform in various projects in Cappella Romana. He quickly began assisting with promoting the ensemble’s Seattle series of concerts, later serving on the ensemble’s board and as its president. Shortly after moving to Portland in 2006, Powell was named part-time executive director and has since more than tripled the size of Cappella Romana’s budget to its current level of about $500,000.

“I am honored and humbled by this appointment,” says Powell. “I look forward to committing my energy and focus on the mission of Cappella Romana, in which I believe with all my heart.”

President of the board of directors, Sue Fischer, adds, “The board is excited to have Mark as our full-time executive director. His leadership and experience are vital to the organization as we pursue Cappella Romana’s mission of combining passion with scholarship in the music of the Christian East and West, here in the Pacific Northwest and indeed the world.”

Powell received his undergraduate education at Seattle Pacific University and earned a Master’s degree in musicology from the University of Washington. He is also a cantor in the Greek Orthodox Church of America, and lives with his wife Brigid Kathleen Powell and their two daughters in Portland.

CAPPELLA ROMANA is the Pacific Northwest’s leading professional vocal ensemble, dedicated to combining passion with scholarship in its exploration of the musical traditions of the Christian East and West, with emphasis on early and contemporary music. Founded by artistic director Alexander Lingas, and celebrating its 25th birthday in 2016, the ensemble presents a series of concerts in both Portland and Seattle, tours regularly in North America and Europe, and continually adds to its over 20-title discography. Cappella Romana aims to give audiences a glimpse of transcendence as it explores the Roman musical inheritance, of both Old Rome and Western Europe and New Rome (Constantinople) and its Slavic and Syriac commonwealth.

FOR MORE INFORMATION: Contact Mark Powell, Executive Director