Christopher Zinovitch, who served as the artistic director of ArtsWest between 2011 and 2013—but had been a strong presence there as an actor and director for 13 years—passed away early this morning.

Zinovitch had been diagnosed with brain cancer over the holidays. He was 43 years old.

ArtsWest managing director Laura Lee wrote in an email that, during his time at the theater, "we were blessed with an incredible body of work that he brought to our stage, his unrelenting passion for hard work and theater, and for the many lives he touched as he nurtured new artists."

Brandon Ivie is one of those new artists. An active member of Seattle's new-musicals community (and a leader at the company Contemporary Classics), he said Zinovitch gave him his first professional gig out of college. "No one could deny his passion," he wrote, "and I think I speak conservatively when I say he definitely lived for the theater. I will always respect him for that."