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ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
Kristina Kambalov
First State Ballet Theatre
As a lifelong performing ballerina, Kristina Kambalov brought her passion for the art to Delaware in the 1990s through the Russian Ballet Theatre of Delaware. That expanded in 1999, when she opened the Russian Ballet Centre in Newport with her husband, Pasha, and later incorporated a nonprofit school, First State Ballet Theatre. In 2003, they moved to Wilmington’s historic Grand Opera House and five years later started Delaware’s only professional ballet company, which today includes more than 20 dancers and performs around the state.
After leading FSBT’s dance school as director for its first 17 years, Kambalov became executive director of the entire operation in 2016. Since then, FSBT has premiered numerous performances by new and established choreographers and founded the annual National Ballet Competition, which draws dancers ages 9 to 19 to perform before an esteemed judging panel for a shot
at scholarships to summer ballet programs nationwide.
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Neil Kirschling
Delaware Arts Alliance
Neil Kirschling took over in 2022 as executive director of the Delaware
Arts Alliance, a statewide nonprofit advocacy organization that develops sector-wide strategies to advance arts and culture. He brought his experience from Rodel, where he helped shape education policy research, to the DAA. One of his first major tasks is creating Delaware’s Creative Economy and Cultural Tourism Recovery and Growth Plan, a roadmap for the necessary policy changes and investments required to grow and sustain the creative sector that includes arts nonprofits, for-profit businesses, and individual artists. This plan will include an online map of arts and culture sites in the state, a policy agenda and an economic impact study to help grow revenue driven by the arts.
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Pam Manocchio
The Grand Opera House
Following the retirement of Executive Director Mark Fields in 2022, The Grand Opera House looked to Pamelyn Manocchio to lead the historic 151-year-old arts center. She had served for 12 years as the arts center’s director of community engagement, overseeing The Grand’s outreach
and education programs with the community, including school matinees, summer camps, and rotating visual art exhibitions that serve more than 30,000 youth and adults annually. Manocchio also launched several impactful new programs, including Summer in the Parks in Wilmington and sensory- friendly performances specifically designed to serve children and adults with autism spectrum disorder. Late this year, Manocchio announced that she was stepping down from The Grand to pursue other opportunities.
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Kate Ransom
The Music School of Delaware
Acclaimed chamber violinist, artistic director and teacher Kate Ransom has also served as the president and CEO of the Music School of Delaware, the only statewide, accredited, community music school in the nation, serving residents of Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Maryland. Offering instruction on dozens of instruments from nearly 100 teachers, the Music School serves students of all ages
and backgrounds. It also exposes thousands of people each year to classical music through more than 100 public performances annually and partners with more than 20 schools
in the Capital and Red Clay school districts to bring instruction to more than 1,000 students. The Music School led byr Ransom is preparing for its centennial celebration in 2025.
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