Andy Head to Direct School of Performing Arts at RIT

The College of Liberal Arts at Rochester Institute of Technology recently named Andy Head as interim director of its School of Performing Arts. Head, who has served the university for a decade, steps into the leadership role following a period of rapid growth for the performing arts at RIT and the opening of its new Performing Arts Center.

Looking ahead, the school is poised for a significant year of activity in the new center. "It’s hard to deny the excitement surrounding the new Performing Arts Center," Head said. "We want to put as many things in there as we can to use the building the way in which it was designed. We have these incredibly talented students who continue to impress and raise the bar. I’m excited to be an audience member myself going to see our events."

Two major, faculty-directed productions are already on the horizon: the musical "Sunday in the Park with George," scheduled for November, and an adaptation of Virginia Woolf’s "Orlando," planned for April. Additionally, he is developing the school’s first-ever study abroad course in theatre, which will focus on the history of English theatre and include a trip to London.

While developing new opportunities for performing arts innovation will continue to be a focus, Head says he also looks forward to a time of celebration and evaluation for the school. “It was established with a lofty and unique goal of becoming a premier performing arts program for non majors and has grown to be a creative home, where everyone on campus is welcome. It doesn't matter what their background is or their experience or their skill level. Our doors are open, and we take pride in that,” he explained. "Now, I want us to be able to pause and reflect on how far we’ve come—the things that we've put into place that are really working as well as address things that could be improved as we continue to think about where we want to go.”

Fostering integration and collaboration between the performing arts program at the National Technical Institute for the Deaf (NTID) and the school is another key focus Head has set for the year ahead. Having held a joint appointment for eight years, he became proficient in American Sign Language to better connect the two programs, and he aims to bring the two arts communities even closer together.

Additionally, Head aims to ensure that students and faculty in RIT’s performing arts programs have the resources and space to thrive creatively. If our faculty and staff feel supported, then that directly impacts how supported our students feel. It’s an essential foundation that ensures that they have both the confidence and the capacity to truly explore and create new possibilities for transformative student experiences,” he said.

To illustrate, Head cited an opportunity RIT faculty pursued last April through the Farm Theater, a New York City-based company. Their college collaboration initiative pairs a professional playwright with students from multiple universities to collaboratively develop, perform, and iteratively refine a play script. The experience culminated with students traveling to New York City for an official reading before the playwright, an audience, and special guests.

“Three of our students—two performers and one dramaturg—were invited to attend the reading in New York City with two of our faculty members. We were able to provide that whole experience, from brainstorming ideas for the script and all through the rehearsal process to multiple public performances,” said Head. “Those are the kinds of things that faculty get excited about and students get excited about because they're wonderful opportunities to work with professionals in the industry as well as people from other schools.”

Now as school director, Head hopes to help faculty and students work together to create, discover, and take advantage of more opportunities like these in the future. The uniquely collaborative nature of theatre, dance, and music—where every individual's contribution is essential to the collective output—lends well to this, while also teaching skills that translate across all majors and career paths.

"As one of my theatre colleagues has said, we are teaching people through the performing arts, so they can take that back to their major or their discipline," Head said. "They bring a different mindset and a different perspective that informs their work as engineers, computer scientists, or medical illustrators. It’s a win-win."

Head holds an MFA in Acting from Michigan State University and a BS in Theatre Arts from Bradley University. He is the co-author, with Dr. Jill Marie Bradbury, of the 2025 ATHE Outstanding Book Award winner, "Staging Deaf and Hearing Theatre Productions – A Practical Guide."

Read more about Andy Head > 

Read more about performing arts offerings at RIT >