“As the new executive director of the Muncie Symphony Orchestra, Scott Watkins plans to … bring the community together through music,” writes Melissa Jones in Wednesday’s (3/31) Muncie Journal (IN). “Watkins joined the MSO just last month…. ‘There’s an opportunity to reach out to our region,’ … he said.… At his last position with Orchestra Kentucky, Watkins helped to bring the organization from a $180,000 deficit to over a $100,000 surplus in a few years. In El Dorado, Arkansas [as executive director of the South Arkansas Symphony Orchestra], he played an instrumental role in branding the city as a music festival destination.…Watkins hopes to position the MSO as a more vibrant part of the community, especially as the city looks to grow strategically and economically…. One of his primary initiatives will be working closely with James Thompson, the MSO’s education coordinator, to enhance arts education in schools across East Central Indiana…. Another initiative … is an adjustment to the MSO’s programming, including shortened classical [concerts] ‘to match our social media-engrained minds’ [and] more pops concerts…. The orchestra’s 2021 season kicks off with a subscribers-only classical concert on May 22, [when] the MSO will … announce details of the season.”
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