Alex Weiser

Composer, Director of Public Programs at the YIVO Institute, Concert Curator/Producer

New York, New York, United States

About

Arts leader, curator, and composer with 10+ years of experience designing and producing high-impact cultural programming. As Director of Public Programs at YIVO Institute for Jewish Research, I lead the strategy and execution of 60+ annual programs spanning concerts, lectures, theatrical works, and digital content. My work focuses on connecting historical scholarship with the contemporary cultural and intellectual word, building engaged audiences, and supporting living artists through commissioning and presentation. My background bridges artistic vision and institutional leadership. I’ve led fundraising and development efforts, overseen communications and marketing strategy, managed cross-functional teams, and worked closely with boards and major donors. Previously, as Director of Operations and Development at MATA Festival, I produced a major international festival and worked on all fundraising activities, including grants, individual giving, and gala events. Alongside my administrative work, I maintain an active career as a composer, with projects including operas, orchestral works, and interdisciplinary collaborations. My debut album was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Music. This dual perspective informs my approach to artistic direction: rigorous, creative programming grounded in institutional sustainability and audience development.

Experience

  • Director of Public Programs at YIVO Institute for Jewish Research
    Feb 2016 - Present · 10 yrs 5 mos

    I run the public programs: curating and producing concerts, film screenings, conferences, lectures, and other events. YIVO is a wonderful community boasting the world's largest archive and library of Eastern European Jewish books, musical scores, correspondences, photos, films, sound recordings, posters, ephemera, and other documents. YIVO's mission is not only preserving this unparalleled cultural treasure trove, but also exploring questions of this Jewish history, identity, and its continuity here in America and throughout the world. When YIVO was founded its headquarters was in Vilna — then a part of Poland and now a part of Lithuania — and shifted its headquarters to New York in 1940.

  • Freelance (22 yrs 6 mos)
    • Composer, Arranger, Orchestrator, Copyist, Recording Engineer
      2004 - Present · 22 yrs 6 mos

      Recordings released on Cantaloupe Music, Bright Shiny Things, New Focus Records, and more. Commissions and performances have come from organizations and ensembles including American Lyric Theater, American Opera Projects, the POLIN Museum in Warsaw, The Polish Radio Orchestra, Orchestra of St. Luke's, Roulette, ASCAP, Ashley Bathgate, Julian Schwarz, Marika Bournaki, HOCKET piano duo, and others.

    • Music Copyist
      2006 - Present · 20 yrs 6 mos

      Score and Part preparation for professional composers of orchestral works, concertos, operas, ballets, chamber works, and solo works.

  • Artistic Director and Co-Founder at Kettle Corn New Music
    2013 - Present · 13 yrs 6 mos

    Co-Founder, curator, composer, fundraiser. See more at www.KettleCornNewMusic.com

  • Teacher of Music Theory and Composition at Third Street Music School Settlement
    Sep 2014 - Jun 2019 · 4 yrs 10 mos

  • Director of Operations and Development at Music at the Anthology (MATA)
    Oct 2011 - Mar 2016 · 4 yrs 6 mos

    Grant writing Correspondences with donors Concert organization and publicity Website Management eBlasts