The Royal Conservatory of Music has announced the appointments of Aida Aydinyan and Nicholas Russotto as the new directors of its Performing Arts Division, replacing the beloved longtime Executive Director Mervon Mehta who left this past June.
Aydinyan was promoted from General Manager of Performing Arts to Executive Director where she will lead RCM’s operational and strategic financial development, identifying opportunities for performance and rental activities to support the RCM’s broader educational work and relationships with the community and strengthening connections across the institution.
“I am excited to take on this role and continue working with a talented team to complement the exceptional work of establishing Koerner Hall as one of the world’s best concert halls,” Aydinyan said in a statement. “We have a strong foundation to build upon, and I am looking forward to working collaboratively with Nick and our colleagues to support our artists and create more opportunities for audiences to experience live music.”
After an extensive international search, Nicholas Russotto joins RCM as Artistic Director, leading the artistic direction and future programming of Koerner Hall and the RCM’s concert activities. Russotto’s most recent position was at Tisch Music at the 92nd Street Y in New York City, where he held a series of increasingly senior leadership positions, most recently serving as Executive Director of its flagship music programming centre.
“I am honoured and excited to join The Royal Conservatory and to build on the extraordinary legacy of Mervon Mehta at Koerner Hall,” says Russotto. “For nearly two decades, my work has been guided by the conviction that music is best experienced as facets of one living continuum, rather than segmented into genres.”
“Together, Nick and Aida bring the complementary strengths we need to take performing arts at the RCM into the future,” says Alexander Brose, Michael and Sonja Koerner President & CEO who formally introduced Aydinyan and Russotto to the public during a performance at Koerner Hall on October 30.
The 2026-2027 concert season at The Royal Conservatory of Music is now underway with upcoming performances from Ravi Coltrane, Robi Botos, Dianne Reeves with the Branford Marsalis Quartet, Laila Biali, Artemis and Stacey Kent. To learn more, visit rcmmusic.com/concerts.