Rachel Moore

Rachel S. Moore (born c. 1964)

Moore is an advocate for arts education for underserved children, diversity and inclusion. She ran Project STEP, an affiliate of the Boston Symphony Orchestra that provides children of color with classical music training; initiated ABT's Project Plié, which identifies and supports young dancers in minority communities; and launched The Music Center Arts Fund, which offers free and low-cost programming and educational opportunities at Music Center venues. She also served on the advisory committee for the Los Angeles County Equity and Inclusion Initiative.

Moore oversees The Music Center initiatives such as its arts education program, which reaches more than 600,000 children and young people in Southern California. She also serves as presenter and curator of Glorya Kaufman Presents Dance at The Music Center, as well as programs, events and activities that introduce new audiences to the arts.

Early life and education Moore was born in Davis, California to Patricia Moore and Charles Moore. Her parents were both economists; her father was an economics professor at UC Davis.

The family returned to Davis when Moore was nine. "Obsessed with music and dance," she began ballet lessons at West Davis Elementary School when she was 11, and later studied daily with Marguerite Phares at the Phares Theatre Ballet in Sacramento. When she was 13, she attended a class that Robert Joffrey of The Joffrey Ballet taught at UC Davis. He offered her a scholarship to train with The Joffrey Ballet in New York, and although his offer was declined—her parents wanted her to finish high school in Davis—she spent summers in New York studying on scholarship with the American Ballet Theatre School and the American School of Ballet.

Moore was active in the Davis High School Feminist Union and a member of the school's instrumental ensemble and choral group. In her senior year, she was one of 20 students from across the United States selected as a US Presidential Scholar of the Arts. She graduated in 1982. Initially a member of the second company, she graduated to the corps de ballet in 1984. Among other ABT productions, she appeared at the Metropolitan Opera in La Bayadère.

In 1988 Moore suffered an ankle injury, and unable to continue dancing, she decided to pursue a career that would help performers. She took the SATs and at 24 enrolled at Brown University, where she received a full scholarship. She was also an adjunct professor in the dance department at Emerson College and taught non-profit finance in the Graduate Program in Arts Administration at Boston University.

2004-2015: American Ballet Theatre, Project Plié In 2004, Moore was hired as the executive director of ABT. As the fourth person to hold the position in four years, she said: "I knew I was coming in to a place that had been very unsettled. But I understand the Ballet Theatre context, what its traditions and needs are. And I never forgot what it's like to be a dancer. This can be a heartbreaking career." A year later, the New York Times wrote: "Moore has taken firm hold of an unwieldy, creaky organization that is also a great one, constantly beset by financial problems, yet somehow managing to produce the spectacular productions and dancers for which it is famous." During Moore's tenure, ABT's endowment increased from $8 million to $15 million, box office receipts went up by 30%, and ABT realized an operational profit. and developed and launched Project Plié, a program to increase diversity in professional ballet, stating that “if performing arts organizations are going to be relevant in the 21st century … then what’s on stage needs to look more like what’s in the world.”

2015-present: The Music Center, The Artist's Compass Moore was named President and CEO of the Music Center in October 2015. In October 2020, Moss and his wife, Tina, gave The Music Center $25 million, the largest gift designated for programming in The Music Center's history.

In 2016, Simon & Schuster/Touchstone published Moore's book, The Artist’s Compass: The Complete Guide to Building a Life and a Living in the Performing Arts. A guide for young artists based on Moore's experience, the book covers subjects including marketing, insurance, finding work, copyright law, finances, and healthy living.

Selected awards and recognition American Academy of Arts and Sciences (elected 2020) Los Angeles Business Journal CEO of the Year (2019) Columbia University Distinguished Alumni Award (2006)

Selected board and organizational affiliations Advisory council member, Ovation TV Distribution Limited, August 2020 – present Board member, Los Angeles Tourism and Convention Board, July 2020 – present Board member, Los Angeles Coalition for Jobs and Economy Trustee and officer, Economic Club of New York, August 2014 – present Arts Advisory Council Member, Brown University, November 2016 – present Board Member, LA 2024 Olympic Games Bid Committee, November 2016 - September 2017 US Presidential Scholars Foundation Board Member, Central City Association of Los Angeles