Report To The Community 2022

A handful of the 80+ volunteers
who represent NJPAC at a variety
of events including the Horizon
Foundation Sounds of the City
summer concert series.
“Our volunteers are a diverse group
of people, reflective of our audiences,
who create a warm and welcoming
environment. They’re integral to all
NJPAC operations.”
— Ginny Bowers Coleman
concert series. “My goal is
always to help the patrons have
a deep appreciation for music,
welcoming them when they
come, putting a smile on their
face and directing them where
they need to go,” says Pierre.
Volunteers are critical to the
success of NJPAC programming.
“I think that when an
organization has a volunteer
presence it says to other
people ‘This is a worthwhile
organization,’” says Dena
Lowenbach who was NJPAC’s
first volunteer, even before the
Arts Center opened in 1997.
NJPAC maintains a roster of
80 volunteers from North and
Central New Jersey. Sporting
orange NJPAC T-shirts, they
represent the Arts Center on-site
and in neighborhood events
such as Summer Fun in the
Park, Jazz Jams and Books on
the Move. Some 50 volunteers
staffed the Dodge Poetry
Festival in October and more
than 30 were boots-on-theground
for the annual Kwanzaa
Family Festival in December.
“Our volunteers are a diverse
group of people, reflective of our
audiences, who create a warm
and welcoming environment
that they themselves enjoy
participating in,” says Ginny
Bowers Coleman, Director,
Volunteer Services. “They’re
integral to all NJPAC operations.”
see ya’ pal
This summer, NJPAC bid a fond
farewell to one of its most senior
leaders: Warren Tranquada,
At the Texas-themed farewell
to Warren Tranquada,
NJPAC’s longtime Executive
Vice President & COO,
recently selected to lead AT&T
Performing Arts Center in Dallas.
the Arts Center’s longtime
Executive Vice President and
Chief Operating Officer, was
selected to serve as the CEO
of the AT&T Performing Arts
Center in Dallas. Tranquada
took on his new role in July.
Before he left, however, the
Arts Center’s staff celebrated
Tranquada with a Texas-themed
goodbye party, replete with
cowboy hats, cowboy boots
and life-size Photoshopped
images of Tranquada riding
bucking broncos and roping
steer. (In reality, Tranquada —
who grew up in Canada — is
much more likely to be found
watching, playing or coaching
hockey in his leisure time.)
Tranquada, who first began
working at the Arts Center
in 2006 as a consultant
during the planning stages
of NJPAC’s first real estate
redevelopment project, the
residential high-rise One Theater
Square, became Chief Financial
Officer of NJPAC in 2009 and
took on the role of Executive
Vice President and Chief
Operating Officer in 2015. •
a special experience
Jacqueline Janai Harper, 9,
on left in red, and her family
were guests of NJPAC and
RWJBarnabas Health at a
December performance of
The Hip Hop Nutcracker.
Jacqueline is a patient at
Children’s Hospital of New
Jersey at Newark Beth Israel
Medical Center and the
Special Patient Experience
treated her and her family to
premium seating, a The Hip
Hop Nutcracker tour bag and
an exclusive experience — in
this case, a meet and greet
with hip hop legend and the
show’s emcee Kurtis Blow.
NJPAC and RWJBarnabas
Health also hosted a
Special Patient Experience
during a December
performance of PAW Patrol.
a warm welcome
It’s axiomatic in the
performance business:
“The show must go on!”
At NJPAC this year, that meant
engaging staff members —
even leadership — in new roles.
Staffing shortages that were
endemic across the country
affected the Arts Center as
well, resulting in an occasional
lack of ushers, especially for
weekday matinees — which
happen to be prime time for
shows geared toward the
youngest audiences. When
ushers were unavailable, Robin
Jones, Senior Director of House
Management, called on senior
NJPAC staff to assist. One of
the unassuming stand-in ushers
was John Schreiber, CEO
and President. “To know that
executive leadership took time
out of their busy days meant
the world to us,” says Jones. “It
shows that NJPAC is invested in
the customer service experience,
no matter what it takes.”
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