Category: Who’s In

The Youth Orchestra of Bucks County in southeastern Pennsylvania has appointed COLLEEN SWEETSIR as its first full-time executive director. Sweetsir is director of the YOBC’s Wind Symphony, assistant conductor of the Delaware Valley Wind Symphony, and a member of the Bucks County Symphony Orchestra. As an instrumentalist she has performed with numerous ensembles including the United States Coast Guard Band, has served as instrumental music director at Lower Bucks County Christian Academy, and is co-owner of Bucks County Piano in Fairless Hills, Pa. Sweetsir attended Boston Conservatory of Music and Ithaca College, and holds a bachelor’s degree from SUNY-Cortland. 

Posted April 7, 2009

TERRI GOLAS has been named general manager of the River Oaks Chamber Orchestra in Houston. A marketing and business development professional with more than twenty years of experience, she served most recently at the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, where she directed advertising, sponsorships, and marketing programs. Golas holds an MBA in marketing and management from Houston’s St. Thomas University and a bachelor’s in English from the University of Houston.

Posted April 7, 2009

Columbia University in Manhattan has announced the appointment of MELISSA SMEY as director of Miller Theatre, a 21-year-old venue located on the university’s main campus and regarded as one of the city’s premier presenters of new music and innovative programming. Smey had served as acting director of Miller Theatre since the departure of GEORGE STEEL, who is now general manager and artistic director of New York City Opera, and for eight years prior to that she had worked with Steel as the Miller Theatre’s general manager. Smey has held positions at the New York Public Library and in the press office of the Metropolitan Opera. A 2007 alumna of the Association of Performing Arts Presenters Emerging Leadership Institute, she holds a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Connecticut and a Master of Fine Arts in performing arts management from Brooklyn College.  

Posted April 3, 2009

The Chicago Symphony Orchestra has announced the appointment of LORA SCHAEFER as second oboe, effective July 6, 2009. Since 1996 Schaefer has served as principal oboe in the Kansas City Symphony, and she is also a member of the Grand Teton Music Festival Orchestra. Schaefer has performed with the Cleveland Orchestra, Blossom Music Festival, Kansas City Chamber Orchestra, Houston Symphony, Houston Ballet, and Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra. A native of Buffalo, N.Y., she received her instrumental training at Interlochen Arts Academy, the Cleveland Institute of Music, and the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University. 

Posted April 3, 2009

Roberto Diaz, president and chief executive officer of the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, has announced the appointment of JOHN R. MANGAN as vice president and dean. He succeeds ROBERT FITZPATRICK, who retires in May following a 29-year tenure. For the last seven years Mangan has held administrative and teaching posts at Yale University, most recently as assistant dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences and lecturer in the Department of History. He has also served as dean of Ross Commons at Middlebury College, has taught classical guitar at the University of Hartford’s Hartt School of Music, and has worked as music librarian and program annotator for the Norfolk (Conn.) Chamber Music Festival. Mangan holds a Ph.D. in history and education from Columbia University. A classical guitarist with extensive performing experience, he earned a Master of Music degree from the Yale School of Music and a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts.
Posted March 27, 2009

LIBBY WATSON, secretary of the Adrian (Mich.) Symphony Orchestra Board of Directors, has been appointed interim administrative coordinator of the orchestra, effective April 1. The post was created in response to the recent resignation of longtime chief executive SUSAN HOFFMAN, who was named director of patron relationship management at The Cleveland Orchestra this winter. Since graduating from Michigan State University’s Eli Broad School of Business, Watson has worked in the retail, automotive, and banking sectors, most recently as a training and development consultant for ABN AMRO. Trained in violin and viola, she toured Europe for two summers with the Lake International Youth Symphony Orchestra, and also performed for several years with the Adrian Symphony.  
Posted March 25, 2009

The Wheaton Symphony Orchestra, based in Glen Ellyn, Illinois, has announced the appointment of KEVIN McMAHON as music director, effective this summer. McMahon has served as artistic director and conductor of the Maud Powell Music Festival (Mendota, Illinois) since 1999, and as associate conductor of Manhattan’s New York Repertory Orchestra since 2005. From 1995 to 2008 he was music director and conductor of the Illinois Valley Symphony Orchestra; earlier posts include music director and conductor of the National Arts Chamber Orchestra (1985-88) and head conductor for Lincoln Opera of Chicago (1989-94). McMahon has guest conducted widely in the U.S. and Europe, working in both the orchestral and operatic fields. A native of Michigan, he studied orchestral, choral, and opera conducting at the University of Michigan and the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Posted March 18, 2009