Bryan Rives named the next director of the UIS Sangamon Auditorium

Bryan Rives, a performing arts center manager with more than 30 years of experience, has been named the next director of the University of Illinois Springfield’s Sangamon Auditorium. Rives will hold the title of director designate during a transitional period from July 3 to September 30, 2017, and will assume the director title on October 1, 2017, following the retirement of current director Robert Vaughn.

“I am excited to be returning to the great State of Illinois,” said Rives. “The University of Illinois Springfield’s Sangamon Auditorium is not only a beautiful venue for the campus and greater metro area, but the current director and staff have put together a fantastic season of events for the upcoming year which I expect will bring out record attendance. Continuing to schedule great seasons of diverse events and ensuring there is something for everyone at UIS’s Sangamon Auditorium is something I am very much looking forward to."

Most recently, Rives has served as tour manager/company manager at Talmi Entertainment where he was responsible for the USA/Canada Moscow Ballet Nutcracker Tour, an 8 week 43 city USA/Canada bus & truck tour with 45 traveling personnel. He also served as a production manager for Celebrity Cruises in Miami, Florida from May 2014-October 2016 where he provided overall production management for on-board alternative-performance venues.

He has worked as a company manager for VEE Corporation / Blue Star Media / VStar Entertainment from where he managed a variety of US and US/Canadian tours including “Hello Kitty’s Supercute Friendship Festival” arena tour (2015), The Pro Football Hall of Fame “Honor the Heroes” tour (2015), and “Discover the Dinosaurs – Unleashed!” tour (2016). From 2012-2014, he managed his own company Applause Management Group, based out of Bloomington, Indiana, where he provided marketing consulting services to performing arts organizations.

From 2007 to 2011, Rives served as the director of event services at Southern Illinois University Carbondale where, as part of the executive team of the University’s Executive Director of Administration, he oversaw the department of SIU Event Services, which included the University’s performing arts center, Shryock Auditorium, the University’s regional ticketing system, Southern Tickets Online, and the staff responsible for marketing and/or providing technical support for major non-athletic events on campus.

He has also served as chief operating officer for the Michigan Opera Theatre / Detroit Opera House; director of the James H. Whiting Auditorium in Flint, Michigan; executive director of the Blanche M. Touhill Performing Arts Center at the University of Missouri – St. Louis; and general manager at the Indiana University Auditorium.

“The search committee was impressed with Mr. Rives’ vision for the future, and his ideas for utilizing new technology resources to lead the auditorium to even higher levels of engagement with faculty, staff, students, patrons and donors,” said James Ermatinger, interim vice chancellor for academic affairs and provost at the University of Illinois Springfield.

Rives earned a bachelor’s degree in fine arts in theatre production from the University of Texas at Austin, and a master’s degree in business from the Bolz Center for Arts Administration at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

About Sangamon Auditorium, UIS

Located on the campus of the University of Illinois Springfield, Sangamon Auditorium hosts more than 120 performances annually. Home to the Illinois Symphony Orchestra and Springfield Ballet Company, it is the only auditorium of its kind and size in the Springfield area, with a seating capacity of 2,018. Sangamon Auditorium, UIS continues to fulfill its mission of presenting and supporting varied cultural and educational professional arts activities to audiences in Springfield, Sangamon County, and the surrounding areas. The Auditorium administrative offices can be reached at 217.206.6150 or by email at onstage@uis.edu.