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Arts Playlist: Grand Opera House’s New Executive Director Pamelyn Manocchio

The exterior of the Grand Opera House in Wilmington
The Grand Opera House
The exterior of the Grand Opera House in Wilmington

After 16 years as the executive director of the Grand Opera House in Wilmington, Mark Fields retires next month.

To find Field’s successor, the Grand stayed in-house, turning to long-time senior staff leader Pamelyn Manocchio.

In this week’s Arts Playlist, Delaware Public Media’s Kelli Steele chats with Manocchio about stepping into the new role and her plans for the Grand.

Delaware Public Media’s Kelli Steele chats with Pamelyn Manocchio about her new role as executive director of the Grand Opera House

Mark Fields’ tenure as the executive director of The Grand in Wilmington ends next month after 16 years.

And to replace Fields, who is retiring, The Grand is staying in-house - turning to Pamelyn Manocchio.

Manocchio is a long-time senior staffer, joining The Grand in 2006 as director of development, then moving to director of community engagement in 2009, overseeing outreach and education programs, including school matinees called “Stages of Discovery.”

Manocchio explains that she’s excited to now serve as executive director, “I think it just goes back to my school days and my training. My entire career I’ve been looking to grow and expand my experience to a position where I could lead a major arts organization, such as The Grand.”

Manocchio says The Grand is doing great things in the community - like Summer in the Parks, which she helped launch and this year marks 10 years partnering with the City of Wilmington on arts programming.

She’s says she’s excited to take over as executive director but expects some challenges, “One of the biggest challenges is definitely in programming. It’s hard to find the right mix and blend of artists that will satisfy everybody out there. As you know, you’ll never make everyone happy all of the time. But we’re going to do our best to bring in a diverse mix of artists.”

Manocchio says she will seek to book artists from all different genres and hopes to bring in some that a younger audience may enjoy.

Delaware Public Media' s arts coverage is made possible, in part, by support from the Delaware Division of the Arts, a state agency dedicated to nurturing and supporting the arts in Delaware, in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts.

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Kelli Steele has over 30 years of experience covering news in Delaware, Baltimore, Winchester, Virginia, Phoenix, Arizona and San Diego, California.