Meet Aengus Finnan, Swallow Hill Music's New President and CEO

Music is magic. Despite color, class or creed, the ancient art form has always had a way of connecting people from different backgrounds and walks of life. Whether it's the unified experience of a sold-out concert or sharing a song around a campfire, enjoying music with others is emblematic of the medium’s power.

Aengus Finnan knows this. As a professional musician, he’s been at the focal point of such auditory alchemy. He’s also a well-traveled, highly experienced nonprofit executive and educator, as well as a successful business and cultural-sector thought leader. That’s why he was recently named Swallow Hill Music Association’s new president and chief executive officer, after a national search led by Arts Consulting Group Inc. He'll start his new role on October 1.

Finnan, fifty, comes to Denver after spending the past eight years as the executive director of Folk Alliance International in Kansas City. Born in Ireland, he studied visual art, theater and education in Canada. He also taught school in Indigenous Arctic communities, spent a decade touring North America as a singer-songwriter and was the founding artistic director of the Shelter Valley Folk Festival.

“On behalf of the entire Swallow Hill community, I want to share how excited we are about Aengus coming on as our new CEO. His depth of experience and leadership in the music industry on an international level lends itself exceptionally well to the work we are doing here in Colorado. This, coupled with Aengus’s passion for music education, musical expression and community engagement make him the ideal person to lead us forward,” says Swallow Hill board chair Walt DeHaven.

Finnan, who is currently enjoying time with family in Ontario, can’t wait to settle into the new role, including meeting the community that Swallow Hill serves and like-minded leaders who contribute to Denver’s cultural vibrancy.

“What struck me about Swallow Hill was the mission, the legacy, the team that’s in place and this really interesting moment for the organization more than four decades into its story with a rapidly changing Denver and the zeitgeist of the times around diversity, equity and inclusion,” Finnan explains. “That zeitgeist of, ‘Okay, we really need to figure out how we, as a cultural center, evolve genuinely — not just serve other communities within our community, but actually engage in a meaningful way so that all voices are not just a part of the conversation, but the curation.’ I think Swallow Hill has an incredible story to build on — [and] looking to the future, a real opportunity to activate the space as a cultural center hub for thought leadership, building on the musical pillars of education, outreach and performance, and expanding access to the physical space so the actual property itself becomes part of the story in terms of community involvement.

“It’s not just about coming to lessons or concerts or being engaged out in the field," he continues, "but that the space itself is activated as a thought leadership space. I’m excited to work with the team that’s there, that obviously has legacy programs in place, and look together at how we tap into the national story and the national movement toward audience diversification and community engagement.”

Founded in 1979, Swallow Hill is a nonprofit community for musicians and music lovers who appreciate the ability of music to bring people together. As a home for individuals and families who want to learn about, listen to and perform music, the organization is a model for experiential music schools and performance spaces across the country, according to its mission statement. Swallow Hill serves more than 165,000 people through its school, outreach programming and concerts annually, and also presents and produces concerts at a wide range of venues across Denver.

Based on his experience, Finnan shares a similar ethos. During his tenure at Folk Alliance International, he was responsible for the fiscal, operational and management oversight of a 3,000-plus-member base, and the organization’s annual global conference, which encompasses networking, showcases and professional development for the folk/roots/Indigenous/global music community. He led the organizational shift from personality-led to policy-led, doubled Folk Alliance's annual budget, increased representation from nine to 46 countries, forged global partnerships and launched an artist-in-residence program. He also developed a global summit series, stewarded a comprehensive six-year DEIA (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Access) review, and established outpost events in Australia, Ireland and Scandinavia.

Finnan believes the role of such centers is entwined with other aspects of the areas that they serve, including socio-economic factors.

“Although music is the heart of the matter, at a higher view, it really is about community engagement, and music is one way into the broader story of the community. I think it’s an exciting time for music presenters and venues and folklore centers nationwide in terms of the opportunity to really recalibrate what the service mission is,” he says. “It’s one of those magic mediums. Everyone is a cultural curator. Everyone’s house has things on the fridge, things on the wall; everyone is ultimately their own art gallery director in terms of the things that appeal to them that are on the walls. So certain mediums are omnipresent, and others are a little more distant. I love interpretive dance, but you really can’t stop on every street corner and ask people about contemporary dance and get a response. You can stop on every street corner, or in every aisle in every grocery story, sit in the waiting room in every muffler shop and talk to somebody about the first song they remember hearing or their parents singing or the first record they bought. To me, it doesn’t matter so much if it’s folk or rock or blues; it’s the internal attachment to the message, the moment, the spirit of the work.”

While Finnan hasn’t dived into his new digs just yet, he commends the Swallow Hill organization and the work it has accomplished over the years in establishing itself as a safe space and cultural core in a city as diverse as Denver. It’s something he’s admired from afar while working in the same sector, and he’s excited to further Swallow Hill’s mission, which is a task he doesn’t take lightly.

“I think it’s a sacred responsibility. People are giving of their time. Rabbits don’t gather and listen to other rabbits down in the burrows, but humans do. They come and gather in a space and sit in rows, and another human comes out on stage and shares their perspective on something in song. And for the three minutes of that song, everybody in those rows — their status disappears, their worries and issues of the week disappear, and folks go into those songs,” he says. “In that way, it’s like being a politician or a preacher. It’s a real responsibility to use that time on stage to bring something of value and meaning and inspiration. As an artist, to really respect that space. As curators, as an organization curating that space, it’s really about trust. The artist moves on to the next town, but your audience is there within the community that you service. Curation is about trust, and that trust builds an appetite to take in things that might be outside of someone’s familiar territory.”

After talking about the ins and outs of his position and philosophical vision for a space like Swallow Hill, Finnan has one final note: “Go, Rapids!” he says with a chuckle, adding that he’s ready to take in all that the Mile High City has to offer.

“It’s a really inspiring city when I look at not just the changes over the past few decades, but in terms of the leadership and the richness of the city. I’m coming to Denver to be part of the city," he concludes. "I would not be coming to Swallow Hill if there wasn’t a dynamic city and a story building nationally in terms of the entire tapestry of the city.”

For more information about Swallow Hill, visit swallowhillmusic.org.