Torrie Allen (he/him) stepped into the role of President and CEO at Arts Midwest in 2019. Prior to this, he presided over all philanthropic activity at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival from 2016 to 2019 and served as the chief officer of development and marketing at Alaska Public Media from 2012 to 2016. He also led the Anchorage Opera as the executive and artistic director from 2006 to 2012, after directing the National Patrons Council at Americans for the Arts.
At Arts Midwest, Torrie leads the organization in strategic planning, fundraising, and programming, working in collaboration with staff, local, regional, and national partners, Arts Midwest’s Board of Directors, funders, and constituents. In 2022, Torrie was named co-chair of the United States Regional Arts Organization Collective.
He has appeared as a keynote speaker for international, national, and regional conferences, and a guest lecturer at the University of Pennsylvania, Yale, the University of Michigan, the University of Minnesota, and other schools. Torrie has served as a grants panelist for the National Endowment for the Arts and the Wallace Foundation. He currently serves on the boards of National Arts Strategies and Americans for the Arts.
He has provided commissioned and volunteer service for the National Endowment for the Arts, Americans for the Arts, World Affairs Council, University of Alaska Advisory Board, Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson Community Commander Program, Arts & Business Council of New York, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, and Alaska State Council on the Arts. He is a Fellow of the National Arts Strategies Chief Executive Program through Harvard Business School, the University of Michigan, and the University of Texas at Austin.
A little more about Torrie:
Prior to his career in nonprofit leadership, Torrie spent a decade traveling the world as a professional concert and opera singer. His professional performance credits include Opéra National de Paris; Teatro Real Madrid; Bregenz Festpiel, Austria; Rudolfinum, Prague; Carnegie Hall; St. Petersburg State Symphony, Russia; Metropolitan Opera, and the Aspen Music Festival.
You can connect with him on LinkedIn.