Jennifer Dautermann

Jennifer is a strategist, facilitator, coach, and project architect working internationally across the performing arts. She currently collaborates with cultural organisations, creative leaders, and emerging professionals on conferences, arts markets, strategic processes, and capacity-building initiatives, and divides her time between Canada and Germany. She is a graduate of the Global Leaders Institute for Arts Innovation Executive MBA program, a native English speaker, and fluent in German.

Most recently, Jennifer returned to active engagement in the wider performing arts sector as an international advisor to the Hong Kong Performing Arts Expo. This role builds on her long-standing expertise in designing effective professional gatherings and supporting exchange within complex ecosystems.

From 2011 until February 2021, Jennifer played a significant role in influencing the global art music scene as the founding director of Classical:NEXT, the world’s leading conference and showcase for art music professionals. Engaged by Piranha Arts to develop and launch the event, she guided Classical:NEXT from its inception into a major international gathering, attracting up to 1,300 participants from 48 countries at its eighth on-site edition in 2019. The conference united all sectors of the art music field while highlighting innovation, experimentation, and cross-sector dialogue. During this period, Jennifer developed deep insight into the evolving needs of the international art music ecosystem.

These observations led her to conceive Art In Action (ArIA): an international festival and conference focused on art music, social action, and positive change. She prepared a Creative Europe large-scale cooperation funding application for the project, which received an excellent evaluation.

Prior to Classical:NEXT, Jennifer worked for over seven years in the Arts and Creative Industries department of the British Council in Berlin, contributing to projects across a wide spectrum of contemporary and innovative artistic practice. Immediately before joining the British Council, she completed teacher training at the University of Cambridge, an experience that continues to inform her approach to facilitation, learning design, and capacity-building.

Alongside her institutional work, Jennifer initiated and realised independent artistic projects. In 2009, she founded the C3 Festival (Club Contemporary Classical), a contemporary music showcase blending new classical music and electronica, presented at Berlin’s Berghain club. The festival expanded in 2011 to Berlin, Essen, and Gdańsk, with support from the German Federal Cultural Foundation.

Earlier in her career, Jennifer lived in New York City, where she worked professionally in photography. She began her artistic training in classical music performance, majoring in the discipline with a minor in studio photography at Interlochen Arts Academy and the University of Michigan School of Music, alongside professional engagements with organisations such as Michigan Opera Theater.

I work with cultural organizations, funders, and creative leaders to fulfill needs and lead to clear, desired outcomes. My work sits at the intersection of artistic vision, organizational strategy, and practical delivery.

• Conference & Meeting Design & Facilitation
• Arts Market Readiness & Capacity Building
• Strategic Planning
• Grant Writing & Fundraising
• Application Assessments (Projects, Pitches, Programs, Grants)
• Project Design & Management

International Advisor

Hong Kong Performing Arts Expo

August 2023 – Present

Founding Director

Classical:NEXT