Doug Witney named director of production services for the Center for the Arts
Doug Witney has been named director of production services for the Center for the Arts at Virginia Tech.
Witney brings almost 30 years of production experience, ranging from lighting and sound design to production and operations management, to the position.
He will oversee event production and technical operations for Center for the Arts programs, which will be presented throughout the center’s 147,000-square-foot facility currently under construction on the corner of Main Street and Alumni Mall on the Virginia Tech campus. Witney will lead the center’s production team and be responsible for the planning and implementation of new technologies in the facility.
“Doug brings extensive professional production experience to the center, having worked with a diverse range of programs and artists,” said Ruth Waalkes, executive director of the Center for the Arts. “His knowledge and experience will complement the center’s programming, which will reach across a wide range of genres. Doug will lead a team of production professionals who will handle the technical aspects of all of our presented programs in the varied spaces of the new building. We can’t wait to see how his group will bring our programming to life when we open our doors in the fall of 2013.”
Witney and his staff will handle production management for the Center for the Arts' 1,260-seat performance hall, as well as operations management for its two visual arts galleries and the Collaborative Performance Lab, where many of the public programs associated with the Institute for Creativity, Arts, and Technology will be held.
Witney most recently served as tour production manager and lighting supervisor for Pomegranate Arts in New York City, where he handled the technical and stage management needs for the Philip Glass Ensemble productions. He was the director of production for the Castleton Festival in Castleton, Va., and the University Musical Society, which is affiliated with the University of Michigan. He has served in director and management positions for the New Haven International Festival of Arts and Ideas in New Haven, Conn.; International Production Associates in New York City; The Performing Arts Center, Purchase College, State University of New York; and the Brooklyn Academy of Music in Brooklyn, N.Y.
Witney has served in various capacities, from lighting designer to seminar instructor, for the Missouri Repertory Theatre (now Kansas City Repertory Theatre), Virginia Stage Company, and Dartmouth College. He also coordinated production and lighting for corporate clients such as Verizon Wireless, MasterCard, Coca-Cola, American Express, Pfizer, and IBM.
Witney received a bachelor’s degree in theatre arts from Virginia Tech.
