California Music Center Names Marcy Straw as Executive Director

The California Music Center (CMC), home of the Irving M Klein International String Competition, is pleased to announce Marcy Straw as its new Executive Director, effective August 1, 2017. Marcy will oversee all aspects of operations, revenue development, and events; she will also produce the annual Klein Competition each June. CMC nurtures the talents and careers of young musicians from around the world by assisting them with the development of professional and performance skills, encouraging their community involvement, and providing them performance opportunities and monetary support. CMC also seeks to develop wider audiences for classical music in the San Francisco Bay Area by presenting year-round public programs aimed at broadening appreciation of and access to great music. “We are immensely pleased and excited to be welcoming Marcy Straw as our new Executive Director. This transition has been seamless, and we are looking to her for strong and visionary leadership in every area of our mission as we continue to expand the scope of our service to exceptional young musical artists. Her impressive organizational skills and energetic management style will be a great asset,” said Mitchell Sardou Klein, Artistic Director, adding "We are deeply grateful to Fred Spitz for his superb service as Executive Director over these last seven years." Marcy brings more than twenty years of experience in the non-profit sector in executive leadership and management roles, as well as a consulting practice founded in 1990 providing interim leadership, fundraising, strategy, career guidance, and marketing to nonprofit organizations and artists. Most recently she served as General Manager and Marketing Consultant to the Playwrights Foundation. Previous roles include Executive Director for the UC Student Association, the Bay Area Leadership Foundation, and Deputy Director for Pacific Environment. Marcy also led Bay Area arts icons Teatro ZinZanni and the Midsummer Mozart Festival. For six years she directed marketing for Cal Shakes and prior, for ODC Dance. Marcy holds a B.S. in Business and an MBA from John F. Kennedy University. “I’m honored to join CMC working alongside Mitch and a dedicated Board, elevating gifted young players through CMC’s programs and the global reach of the Klein Competition. CMC fulfills a vital role championing the living art form of classical and contemporary music performance by supporting the next generation of musicians, commissioning new work, and engaging audiences. I’m so excited to be a part of that journey.” About The California Music Center CMC was founded in 1974 by Irving M. Klein, a virtuoso chamber musician and master cello teacher, as the sponsoring organization for a summer music institute and chamber music series for young artists. Following Mr. Klein’s passing in 1985, CMC inaugurated the Irving M. Klein International String Competition (“the Klein”) in 1986; since then, the Klein has become one of the most prestigious events of its kind, attracting ever-increasing numbers of entries annually from throughout the world and helping to enhance the developing careers of players who have gone on to become renowned soloists, chamber musicians, teachers, and prominent members of the world’s finest orchestras. To learn more about CMC, please visit http://californiamusiccenter.org. ###