Ana Papakhian has joined the Camerata Pacifica chamber music organization, based in Santa Barbara, California, as executive director.
Camerata Pacifica, the chamber music collective based in Santa Barbara, California, has named Ana Papakhian as executive director. Papakhian began her tenure with the chamber ensemble in June, joining founder and Artistic Director Adrian Spence. An arts administrator with 27 years of experience in the classical music field, Papakhian was most recently chief marketing and communications officer of Santa Barbara’s Music Academy (formerly Music Academy of the West). Papakhian’s previous posts include director of communications for the Cleveland Orchestra and for the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra. She began singing professionally with the New Orleans Opera before launching her administrative career in New York City at the Piatigorsky Foundation, and subsequently served as personal assistant to opera singer Marilyn Horne. Papakhian, an Armenian-American born in Detroit and raised in Bloomington, Indiana, earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in vocal performance at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. As a volunteer, she is vice president of the Engagement Council for the Interlochen Center for the Arts, her high school and summer camp alma mater, a board member of the Association for Women in Communications, Santa Barbara, and a member of the Santa Barbara County Behavioral Wellness Commission.
