Today we’d like to introduce you to Cathy Holbrook.
Hi Cathy, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I’m from Michigan and I moved to San Diego, California when I was 22. I started in the PR business and soon found that I wasn’t loving corporate life. I had a background in music in my personal life as my mother was a piano teacher and I played piano since a young child, as well as playing French Horn in school. I was on my own in CA and looking for musical things to do and saw there was a UCSD gospel choir concert that was near my apartment. I went and the woman who introduced the group had a job at UCSD that sounded interesting. I took a chance and called her the next day and asked if she could meet with me to talk about job opportunities. This complete stranger asked me to come to campus, took me out to lunch and pretty much changed the direction of my life. She told me that the La Jolla Chamber Music Society was hiring a PR and Production person. I applied immediately. I got that job and have worked in the non-profit arts sector ever since. From there I worked for Andre Previn as his personal assistant, I went on to the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Hollywood Bowl. I spent 12 years as the Executive Director of the Santa Barbara Chamber Orchestra and the last 15 years in my position at St. Cecilia Music Center as Executive and Artistic Director. I lost touch with that person in San Diego but it really shows how one chance meeting can change everything!
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
One thing I’m very grateful for in my career is having very supportive people around me. I’m lucky in that working in the non-profit arts sector you are usually surrounded by people who care about the community and love music…my kind of people! You are also surrounded by musicians and I admire musicians and respect what they bring into the world. They are a fun bunch…whether they are classical musicians, jazz musicians or rock/folk…most musicians love what they do and have a close- knit community. When you help them do what they love to do, they love you. It’s a mutual admiration society most of the time. There are times when it’s not the case but most of the time. So, in general, I’ve chosen a profession that brings joy into the world so that’s a nice place to be. It can be hard keeping everyone happy all of the time. There are many different constituents in my world…board members, staff, artists, audiences, donors. Trying to make decisions that will best serve all of them can, at times, be a challenge. Of course there have been struggles. Mostly within organization I’ve taken over. In two jobs I’ve had I have made many changes when taking over and some people don’t like change. The great thing about my current job is that the changes I wanted to make were embraced by my board so I was able to start a jazz series, start a folk series, create an ongoing relationship with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, make changes to staff and programs. Ultimately it’s made SCMC a stronger organization and one that better serves a broader base of the community, but I could not have done that without support from the board.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
As the Executive and Artistic Director of St. Cecilia Music Center I wear many hats. I manage and oversee the staff in the day to day operations of the organizations which include our Presenting Series, School of Music and historic building. I manage the involvement and engagement of the Board of Directors, including recruitment of new board members. I organize and attend all committee meetings. I organize the monthly board meetings. With the help of the Finance Director and Finance Committee, I create and manage the annual budget. I am heavily involved in our fundraising and marketing efforts. I meet with donors, ask for funding, am involved in all of our solicitation materials. I manage our advertising contracts and oversee printed and digital materials. I manage some of our social media accounts. In the artistic director role I choose, book and manage the appearance of all of the artists who come to SCMC, which involves negotiating contracts to advancing the shows and handling the musicians when they arrive and during their time at SCMC. I’m their point person and the tour managers point person.
I believe my “specialty” is my ability to communicate with many different types of people and to bring them together for the common mission of what SCMC does. I try to respect people and who they are and what they bring to the table. I am extremely proud of the three concert series I have created at SCMC that bring world-renowned artists to Grand Rapids. I’ve helped to bring Grand Rapids to the forefront for many musicians and agents to be known as a great city to play. I’m also proud of the type of experience SCMC offers the artists and our audiences…a professional venue that does things right! We have many artists who return to perform here because of the wonderful experience they have. I love getting to know some of these artists and creating friendships that have lasted years. One thing that might set me apart is that I’m not afraid to try something new – to build new relationships, to create new programming. If it doesn’t work, we move on to something else, but I don’t just tow the line…I try to push myself and the organization to try new things.
