Burlington Free Press: Flynn Center artistic director retiring in January

Posted on November 17, 2011

Written by Brent Hallenbeck

Arnie Malina, who has booked shows ranging from pop-music innovator David Byrne to the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and the Broadway national tour of “The Producers” in his 14 years at the Flynn Center, is retiring from his position as artistic director at the end of January.Malina, who announced his retirement Wednesday, came to the Burlington performing-arts center in 1997 after leading the Myrna Loy Center for the Performing and Media Arts in Helena, Mont.

The executive director of the Flynn, John Killacky, said in a statement that he admired Malina’s work from afar in Montana and in Vermont before Killacky arrived at the Flynn in 2010.

“Arnie is one of the most esteemed performing arts curators in this country,” Killacky said in the statement. “He leaves behind an incredible legacy in Burlington. We have all benefited from his vision.”

Malina, who also serves as artistic director for the annual Burlington Discover Jazz Festival, brought jazz legends such as Abbey Lincoln, Sonny Rollins and Ornette Coleman to the Flynn. He also has been a strong proponent of the Flynn’s dance offerings, and his projects have included a residency at the Flynn with the Liz Lerman Dance Exchange that worked with local performers.

“Seeing new work come alive and supporting artists in the creative process, that is a glorious process,” Malina said in the Flynn Center’s statement.

Malina will serve as a consultant to the Flynn through June, which will allow him to finish programming the 2012-13 season and to take part in one more year of the Burlington Discover Jazz Festival, which is scheduled to run June 1-10. The Flynn will start looking for a new artistic director early in the new year.

“The objective will be to have somebody in place by June of next year to replace Arnie,” the Flynn Center’s board chairman, Peter Erly, told the Burlington Free Press on Wednesday afternoon. “It’s going to be extremely difficult to replace someone of Arnie’s stature and aptitude.”

Erly said the board will form a search committee that will look nationally for a candidate to replace Malina. “It will be a matter of months” before someone is hired, Erly said.