NJPAC thrilled to announce Ed Hajim Professional Readiness Program — career-changing initiative for young artists

Thanks to a remarkable gift from a remarkable individual, the New Jersey Performing Arts Center is announcing Tuesday that it will launch the Ed Hajim Professional Readiness Program this fall — a new initiative for NJPAC’s arts education students that will offer rising artists a series of classes and opportunities that will propel them towards a successful career in the performing arts.

Inspired by Hajim’s book, “Island of the Four Ps: A Modern Fable About Preparing for Your Future,” a guide to success in life and business told in the form of a fable, the program is designed to let young artists harness the elements of success that propelled Hajim himself from foster care to Wall Street boardrooms.

Hajim, a leading business executive who held senior management positions with the Capital Group, E.F. Hutton and Lehman Bros. before becoming chairman and CEO of Furman Selz, is supporting the program with a significant gift to the arts center. He also will meet with participants to share with them how he made his way from an orphanage to Harvard Business School and the C-suite of multiple financial firms.

“I believe it is important for all young people to have time, resources and opportunities to think about the life they want to make for themselves, and not just how they will make a living,” Hajim said.

While career preparedness has always been an element of NJPAC’s extensive arts education programs  — which offer thousands of young people skills instruction in vocal and instrumental jazz music, acting, musical theater and hip-hop arts every year — this initiative will formalize and significantly expand those offerings, according to NJPAC CEO John Schreiber.

“Ed Hajim’s life story is a remarkable one, and the lessons he’s gleaned from his extraordinary career have inspired us to create a series of workshops and programs for our students to ensure they’re fully prepared for their professional lives,” he said. “Success in the performing arts requires talent, of course, but also practical and interpersonal skills that Ed has uniquely identified.

“The career-readiness aspect of our arts education programming will be turbocharged by this gift and by Ed’s personal engagement with our students.”

The program — which is free to current NJPAC students who desire to pursue a profession in the arts, and to alumni of the arts center’s arts training programs — will guide students through a series of steps that will advance their career readiness.

Students — starting at age 14 and continuing through their university-level education and the early years of their professional work — will receive both instruction in key skills and access to a ready-made professional network.

Rosa Hyde, the senior director for arts ed performances and special events at NJPAC, said the program will have great impact.

“These initiatives will help our students marry their raw talent with the skills they need to become thriving businesspeople as well as great performers,” she said. “They’ll be able to explore their passions and develop the skills that will allow them to make informed plans for their futures, all here at the arts center.”

The programs that will be available to NJPAC students beginning in the fall include:

• Business of the Arts workshops (students 14-18): A yearlong series of two-hour Saturday seminars (offered immediately following NJPAC’s Saturday arts training classes) on the practical skills young artists will need to advance their careers, including résumé-writing, social media management, contract and financial literacy and audition etiquette, taught both by working artists and professionals in other fields.
• Production Education Assistant program (students and alumni 18-30): Students and alumni will be offered the opportunity to take a monthlong series of biweekly classes in technical theater skills, from light and sound design to stage management. Once classes are completed, they will have the opportunity to learn from and shadow professional stagehands. Participants will have the opportunity to sit for the United States Institute for Theatre Technology BACKstage Exam (Basic and Comprehensive Knowledge Exam for High School Technical Theatre Students), a prerequisite for consideration for union membership.
• NJPAC Alumni Network: (graduates of NJPAC arts training programs): New alumni will now be able to join and learn from a community of NJPAC-trained artists. Through this network, not only will alumni be able to share insights and information with fellow artists, but the Arts Center will be able to call upon its graduates to provide mentorship to younger artists, perform at events, advise on programming and share their success stories. Through a new online platform, alumni will be able to network with peers who can provide advice, share job leads and collaborate creatively.

These additions to the arts center’s arts education curriculum will also include expansions of career-focused initiatives that have been piloted at NJPAC in recent years, including:

• Creative Coaching (students 14-18): The Creative Coaching program pairs arts training students with teaching artists who serve as their mentors for two years. Working together, student and mentor identify a career-focused goal for the year — from producing a student’s first EP to preparing a repertoire of songs and monologues for auditions — and work together on the steps toward achieving that goal. Mentors and students meet twice a week throughout the school year.
• Creator’s Room (students 16-18): A quarterly series of conversations at which students can meet with working professional artists to both network and pick up tips and insight on how to handle auditions, how to find representation, where best to seek out job opportunities in today’s market, even how to dress for auditions and rehearsals. These meetings are designed to offer students the nitty-gritty details of pursuing a career in the arts, from artists who are currently working in the field.

Finally, with this training supporting them, students engaged in the program will be able to take on paid performance jobs through the arts center’s unique placement service for the students it trains:

• Brick City booking (current students, 14 and up, and all alumni): Student artists and recent alumni can access paid performance opportunities, and work with staff and mentors to negotiate contract terms, prepare repertoire and nurture ongoing relationships with clients through this service, NJPAC’s student and alumni “booking agency.”

Schreiber said he is thrilled to have such an impactful moment at the arts center.

“These programs and opportunities, and Ed’s personal involvement with our students, will enhance and transform the lives of these young people,” he said.