Jennifer Ritvo Hughes
Senior Consultant
Jennifer Ritvo Hughes joined ABA in Fall of 2024 to partner in the launch of ABA Consulting.
Hughes spent the last 12 years leading performing arts organizations through a period of seismic cultural change. She most recently served as CEO of the American Friends of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra. In her role, she led a national team that developed critical opportunities for cultural ambassadorship, raising friends and funds from the US and Canadian markets. She led the organization through a complex time for Israeli intermediary organizations; during her tenure she developed and released Global Hatikvah--a virtual choir initiative which received 1M impressions in its first month online and curated a series of fundraisers in New York, Los Angeles, Orange County, Palm Desert and Palm Beach featuring Michael Feinstein, Pinchas Zukerman, Itzak Perlman and members of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra.
Previously Hughes served as Executive Director of Boston Baroque. As the chief administrative officer for America’s first Baroque orchestra and six-time GRAMMY nominee, she built a groundbreaking digital revenue stream that accounted for 30% of earned revenues, produced a brand new digital portfolio of 22 musical programs, 40 documentary shorts, 1 feature-length documentary, and one nationally-acclaimed children’s program, and improved the organization’s financial position, bringing balance sheets to positive net assets for the first time in a decade.
Prior to joining Boston Baroque, Hughes served as Executive Director of Cantata Singers for six and a half years. In her previous experience as Director of Publicity and Coordination for the Arts at Wellesley College, she led the promotion of the College’s public arts and cultural events and ran the Music Department’s Concert Series.
Hughes is passionate about mentoring the next generation of arts leaders, and has taught at Boston University's Graduate Program in Arts Administration since 2020. She serves on the boards of the Boston Lyric Opera, Surf Point Foundation and North Star Baroque. She graduated magna cum laude with a B.A. in music from Wellesley College and earned a master’s degree in musicology from Brandeis University. Hughes lives in the Boston area with her husband and two daughters.