Arturo Jacobus

Arturo Jacobus retired in 2021 after 12 years with Atlanta Ballet as CEO and President. He previously was chief executive of Pacific Northwest Ballet and San Francisco Ballet, each for 10 years. Jacobus also has been the chief executive of the Oakland Symphony (Calif.); The Kentucky Center for the Performing Arts in Louisville; the American Center for Wine, Food and the Arts in Napa (Calif.); and Pilchuck Glass School in Seattle. He holds master’s degrees in business administration, arts administration, and human resources management, and he has completed management certificate programs at the University of Washington and Harvard Business School. Jacobus has served on executive boards for such arts organizations as Dance/USA, Washington State Arts Alliance, Northwest Development Officers’ Association, and California Arts Advocates. Throughout his career, he has stayed actively involved in strategy and advocacy in the arts by chairing and sitting on panels for the National Endowment for the Arts, Dance/USA, and the city of Atlanta’s Office of Cultural Affairs. Before becoming an arts executive, Jacobus served for 20 years as a bandmaster for the U.S. Navy, leading ensembles in Villefranche, France; Gaeta and Naples, Italy; and San Francisco. While stationed in Naples as the leader of the U.S. Navy Band, under the Commander of Chief Allied Forces Southern Europe (CincSouth), he founded a 50-member NATO ensemble of service musicians from the armies, navies, and air forces of Italy, Greece, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Jacobus toured Europe with his NATO band, performing ceremonies on behalf of CincSouth and NATO.