Kamilah Forbes to Conclude Tenure as Executive Producer at The Apollo, Marking a Decade of Visionary Leadership
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The Apollo today announced that Executive Producer Kamilah Forbes will step down at the end of the season, concluding a decade of visionary leadership at the iconic institution. She will continue to support the organization in an advisory capacity on select initiatives through the end of the season. She is stepping down to pursue independent creative endeavors for stage and screen.
Under Forbes’s leadership, The Apollo expanded its artisticreach and reputation while remaining a beacon for Black artistic excellence andexperimentation. During her tenure, The Apollo attracted both marquee andemerging talent and advanced its legacy for twenty-first-century audiences. Sheplayed a pivotal role in shaping the vision and strategy of The Apollo Stagesat the Victoria—purpose-built theaters for artists—while expanding the institution’spresence locally, nationally, and internationally. Forbes also raised $10million to launch the 21st Century Canon Fund, supporting the creation andpreservation of new Black work for generations to come.
“As we mark this transition, we are deeply grateful forKamilah’s extraordinary contributions to The Apollo,” said Michelle Ebanks,President and CEO of The Apollo. “The care and artistry she brought to theinstitution have strengthened our artistic programming and deepened ourcultural impact at a pivotal moment in the Apollo’s evolution. Her leadership,creative vision, and unwavering commitment to artists and community have leftan indelible mark on The Apollo and the broader cultural landscape.”
Among her many accomplishments, Forbes commissioned and presented landmark works, including the theatrical adaptation of Ta-Nehisi Coates’s Between the World and Me, which she originated at The Apollo, toured nationally, and produced for HBO; as well as the New York premiere of the opera We Shall Not Be Moved. She commissioned more than 40 new multidisciplinary works, produced over 10 full productions, launched the master artist-in-residence program, and created the first-ever [at] The Intersection arts and ideas festival, featuring leading artists and writers including Barry Jenkins, Kerry Washington, and Nikole Hannah Jones.
Under her leadership, The Apollo expanded its ability toengage a wide range of artists and audiences, reinforcing its position as aleading cultural institution.
“The Apollo has been a sacred artistic home—an institution that holds the history of so many trailblazing artists while constantly making room for what’s next,” said Kamilah Forbes. “Over the past decade, I’ve been honored to shape work and celebrate Black artistry in all its complexity and brilliance, and to collaborate with an extraordinary team committed to excellence and community.”
The Apollo will immediately begin a national search for its next Executive Producer/Artistic Director to guide the institution’s next phase of artistic strategy and programming as it moves toward the reopening of its Historic Theater and its next century.
About The Apollo
The Apollo is an American cultural treasure. It is a vibrant non-profit organization rooted in the Harlem community that engages people from around New York, the nation, and the world. Since 1934, The Apollo has celebrated, created, and presented work that centers Black artists and voices from across the African Diaspora. It has also been a catalyst for social and civic advocacy. Today, The Apollo is the largest performing arts institution committed to Black culture and creativity.
The Apollo is a commissioner and presenter; catalyst for new artists, audiences, and creative workforce; and partner in the projection of the African American narrative and its role in the development of American and global culture.
The Apollo envisions a new American canon centered on contributions to the performing arts by artists of the African diaspora, in America and beyond.
