Jaclyn Dentino
Jaclyn Dentino (MET’15)
Executive Director, Emmanuel Music
MS in Arts Administration
This interview was originally published in spring 2024. Jaclyn has since accepted the position of Director of Development for the Longy School of Music.
What do you do in your current position?
Emmanuel Music is a 501(c)3 professional orchestra and chorus founded in 1970. As the executive director, I’m responsible for its strategic leadership, financial management, and HR operations. I directly oversee and work with the development, marketing, and engagement teams. I also work closely with the board of directors and function as the organization’s major gifts officer.
I personally believe that access to music is a right, not a privilege. In my role, I’m dedicated to eliminating barriers to entry to Western European classical music. Those barriers include financial, cultural, and internal structures that can make classical music venues seem unwelcoming.
Why did you choose MET for your graduate studies? What set MET apart from other programs you were considering?
Born and raised in the Greater Boston area, I knew I wanted to work in the Boston arts world. When considering graduate programs, it was clear to me that BU’s MS in Arts Administration program would provide me with the education necessary to reach my goals and help me network within the Boston industry. It can be so difficult to get started in arts administration, and having professors who would one day become my colleagues was hugely attractive.
I also loved the opportunity to take classes at night. To build my resume and maintain income, I needed to work full-time during the day. Being able to work in the industry by day and study at MET by night was a great help in accelerating my career.
What do you find most fascinating about the discipline of arts administration? Do you have a particular focus within the broader field?
What’s still funny to me is that I didn’t know arts administration was a thing until I was a junior in college. I’d known since I was 9 years old that I wanted to work in the arts, but I thought the only two avenues were to perform or teach. My dad is an excellent high school music educator, and I had seen enough of his job to know that it wasn’t for me. I went into a performance major thinking it was my only way to work in the field. I’m very grateful to my undergraduate flute teacher, who told me, “You know, someone has to RUN the orchestra.” She changed my whole career trajectory!
Arts administration is this beautiful mix of management, creativity, and being in close proximity to the arts while having the power to make positive change and earn a steady paycheck while doing so. I love how arts admin blends business with art, the community, and academic fields such as cultural studies and musicology to continue to improve this incredibly important part of human life.
How were you able to successfully balance your studies with your commitments outside the classroom?
I’m not going to lie, it was TOUGH. I worked full time, took two courses per semester, and spent a year of my studies living in Fitchburg, which was a long commute. I also, of course, had friends, family, hobbies, and a boyfriend whom I eventually married.
To stay on top of everything, I generally tried to stay a week ahead of the syllabus. I spent my train commute time doing my reading and made sure I had dedicated hours in the evenings and weekends for schoolwork as well as fun things. I had all of my schoolwork available on Google Drive, so I could get work done during any down time, including in waiting rooms at doctors’ offices.
Honestly, this was really good practice for being an executive director at an arts organization! As an ED, there are always dozens of moving parts to manage, and things rarely go according to plan. The time management and organizational skills I put to use at BU have been really helpful in my career.
Were you able to use faculty as a resource? Is there a particular faculty member who enhanced your experience at MET?
Absolutely! That’s one of the things I loved about this program. As an undergrad, I was intimidated by my professors and felt like everything I faced was some kind of test. The faculty in the Arts Admin program at BU truly made us feel that they were helping us on our way and treated us like the colleagues we hoped to be. Michael Ibrahim and Mary Doorley Simboski taught amazing fundraising courses and were huge resources to me as I begrudgingly learned to fundraise. I still joke that I want to be Janet Bailey when I “grow up”; her no-nonsense approach to the industry was eye-opening, and she helped me secure my first two jobs after graduation.
Did earning your degree lead to a different career focus, or broaden the scope of opportunity within your existing line of work? Can you share your perspective on that?
I feel really fortunate to have had a clear career goal in mind by the time I finished undergrad: I wanted to become a senior leader in performing arts organizations. As a 22-year-old, I could write well, play a good flute, and speak Spanish. Despite my best efforts, my first year out of undergrad was spent working seven days a week as a waitress, a bank teller, and an unpaid intern with the Boston Landmarks Orchestra (my favorite of the three!).
My master’s degree taught me what I needed to know not only to set in motion my career in arts administration but to prepare me for senior leadership. What I learned about the industry, best practices, management, and fundraising were essential to meeting my goals. After completing my master’s when I was 25, I spent a few years simultaneously working full-time, part-time, and volunteering at arts organizations to help me on my way. I was honored to accept my first executive director’s role at the age of 31.
Do you believe there has been a positive return on your investment in terms of the cost of the BU degree?
No doubt about it. BU’s Arts Administration program is flexible and reasonably priced and was instrumental in setting me on track for my career.
How do you plan to apply the skills and competencies you gained during your studies moving forward? What is next in store for you?
I honestly sometimes wish I could go back and take more classes! This industry has changed so much, especially since the pandemic, so I’m constantly reading and listening to whatever relevant books and podcasts I can get my hands on. I plan to continue as an arts leader for my entire career, hopefully one day teaching in an arts admin program, and/or founding my own cultural organization. I’m sitting on an entire business plan for my dream interactive arts center.
What is one piece of advice you would give to someone who is considering applying to this program?
Don’t let anybody hold you back. There can be such a stigma about working in the arts, being a starving artist etc. If this is the work you love, if this is what you’re passionate about, then do it. You’ll have to work hard and hustle, especially in the beginning. But arts administrators are creative people who find ways to make things work. I couldn’t imagine doing anything else, and am so grateful to my younger self for having made this choice.
Is there anything else you would like to add?
Take the opportunities as they come! If you’re offered an arts administration-related internship or a job in a department that maybe isn’t exactly what you want to do, or is in visual art when you’re passionate about theater—don’t overthink it. You never know what the next opportunity will be, or who you will meet. Work hard, take the opportunities, and remember that arts and cultural organizations are here to create some goodness and beauty in the world.