ANN ARBOR –
The University Musical Society recently announced that Jim Leija has been named as the new director of education and community engagement. Leija (LAY-ha) has been with UMS since 2008. He currently serves as manager of new media and online initiatives (2010-11) and was previously public relations manager (2008-09).
In announcing Jim Leija's appointment, UMS President Kenneth C. Fischer noted: "During his time at UMS, every facet of our organization has benefited from Jim's leadership, vision and unique ability to connect the community with UMS programs in uncommon and engaging ways. In addition to his role in the communications department of UMS, Jim has also garnered outside professional experience in curriculum development, consulting and peer educating. I am confident that Jim Leija will continue to bring fresh insights and new approaches not only to our Education and Community Engagement activities, but to UMS as a whole."
Currently, Leija manages UMS's social media strategies and online community engagement, and over the past two years has served as project manager for the UMS Lobby, a project created through an "Innovation Lab" grant awarded by EmcArts with support from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation. He has been a popular consultant and peer educator with Ann Arbor's Nonprofit Enterprise at Work (NEW), serving a wide array of clients in the Southeast Michigan nonprofit sector. He brings to this role teaching experience and a background in curriculum development in fields as diverse as theater, art, sociology, women's studies and American culture. Leija holds three degrees from the University of Michigan: an MFA in Art & Design, BA in Sociology, and BFA in Musical Theatre.
"As a lifelong artist and arts advocate, I am so thrilled to have this opportunity to do such meaningful work within a community that I love," said Jim Leija. "One of the very special things about UMS is its enthusiastic and devoted network of partners and communities. I look forward to reconnecting with this network, forming new community relationships and collaborating to create compelling and inspiring experiences. I will ensure UMS programs are as inclusive and accessible as possible, embracing new technologies as helpful conduits to serve us in this pursuit. Together we will evolve and re-imagine UMS Education and Community Engagement programs for a rapidly changing world, and lay a strong foundation for generations to come."
Recognized as an "emerging leader" by the Association of Performing Arts Presenters (2009), Leija was also a Community of Scholars Fellow at the U-M Institute for Research on Women and Gender (2006) and has served as a grant review panelist for the Michigan Council for the Arts and Cultural Affairs.
In addition to his life as a performing arts administrator, workshop leader and peer educator, Leija is also a director, filmmaker and performance artist. His works have been seen at Dixon Place in New York City, the Ann Arbor Film Festival, the Performance Studies International Conference, as well as venues in Toronto and Chicago. His non-fiction essay "Dance or Die" was published in the anthology Queer and Catholic (Routledge Press, 2008). Jim is a Michigan native, and currently lives in Ann Arbor with his partner Aric Knuth, who is the Director of the New England Literature Program in U-M's Department of English Language & Literature.
