David Whitfield

I have worked for non-profit organizations for over 35 years and within the Central Florida Cultural Sector since April of 2001 although prior to that I was volunteering for one of the local arts orgs.  My life in the arts is due largely to one of my twin sons and Carl Rendek.  In the late 1990’s my son started playing in the Florida Symphony Youth Orchestra.  At that time they were rehearsing at Seminole Community College and like a lot of other parents we would be there to drop off and pick up after rehearsal.  One day as I was waiting for rehearsal to end there was the sound of many keys clashing together and suddenly there was Carl Rendek who at that moment was interim ED of FSYO.  After talking with us he said “could you help me move chairs at the end of rehearsal?”  That became a regular thing and in time led to becoming a volunteer Orchestra Manager, joining the Board of FSYO and eventually it led to a shared position working for both the FSYO and the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra to help both organizations with projects they had.  Over time things developed and for a period I was interim ED for the FSYO thereby involved in every aspect of the work.  For the OPO I worked in the box office and while my role in OPO officially shifted from that to Finance for 16 years I was regular fixture in the Will Call window and a Box Office backup.  The dual jobs ended after a few years and I went full time with the OPO.  Over the years my role with OPO grew beyond Finance/Box Office with various aspects being added from event project management, IT support and even for a short while interim ED.  In 2017 I moved to Enzian theater to be their Finance Director and with that move embraced a whole new art form and all its accompanying challenges.  My time at Enzian was so varied and marked with always learning and developing new skills from working in the kitchen, to serving food, setting up outdoor movies and even preparing and scheduling movies for theater presentation.  I joined UA in November of 2021 and have enjoyed my new role especially as through it I get to serve many of the organizations and staff who I have worked with and appreciated over the years.  I may not be involved in the presentation of art, science and history in all its many forms but I know I still contribute to making it happen.  Someone asked me recently about my years in the cultural sector and I had to admit occasionally I miss moving chairs – a little!