Mary Lou Aleskie, Executive Director of the International Festival of Arts & Ideas in New Haven, Connecticut since September 2005, has provided leadership at the helm of numerous international organizations and projects as an executive, producer and presenter in the support of landmark premieres as well as masterworks of the performing arts.

Prior to the Festival, Ms. Aleskie served as President/CEO of La Jolla Music Society, San Diego’s premier presenter of world-renowned orchestras, dance companies and soloists, and producer of the award-winning chamber music festival La Jolla SummerFest. Her decade long tenure as Executive Director of Da Camera of Houston resulted in the company’s first major international tours to include the world’s most prestigious venues, from the Barbican Centre to the Kennedy Center. As General Manager and Managing Director of the Alley Theatre in Houston, she produced many ground-breaking projects, including the international tour of Edward Albee’s “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” to Russia and the Baltics, as well as the world premiere of Frank Wildhorn’s “Jekyll & Hyde,” which transferred to Broadway for a long and successful run.

Ms. Aleskie has been a frequent speaker and panelist for the National Endowment for the Arts, among other organizations. She has guest lectured at Yale University, SUNY – Purchase and University of Houston. She currently serves as a member of the International Society of Performing Arts Board and Executive Committee, Arts Presenters Association’s Classical Connections Advisory Committee and is an Associate Fellow of Branford College at Yale University.