Santa Barbara Symphony Welcomes Two New Board Members

The Santa Barbara Symphony welcomes Kathryn R Martin and Carrie West to the Board of Directors. The Symphony's Board works to support the organization's mission to enrich the community by creating powerful musical experiences performed with passion and excellence, and by providing indispensable music education and community engagement.

Named "Top Leadership Coach of the Year" in 2018 by the International Association of Top Professionals, Kathryn R. Martin coaches non-profit boards, founders and executives to create empowered momentum and leverage moments of change into opportunities for growth, revenue-generation, engagement and meaningful success. Kathryn is one of the top interim and transition strategists in the country; and has consulted with over 150 arts and culture organizations, and trained and coached Interim leaders in organizations across the United States. Additionally, she has led nine arts and culture organizations through transition as a professional interim Executive Director - most recently serving as Interim Executive Director of the Santa Barbara Symphony, Interim President & CEO of the Sharon Lynne Wilson Center for the Arts in Milwaukee, and Interim Executive Director of the Linda Pace Foundation in San Antonio. Before launching her business in 2016, Kathryn served as Vice President at Arts Consulting Group (ACG) for 12 years, Managing Director and SummerFest General Manager at the La Jolla Music Society from 1998 to 2003, and oversaw capital improvement projects and more than 250 events annually as the Production and Facilities Manager at the Department of Music, University of California San Diego. Martin also serves on the Board of the Association of California Symphony Orchestras. She and her husband Peter move to Santa Barbara full time in October and look forward to contributing to the community.

Born and raised in Pennsylvania, Carrie West graduated from Penn State University before studying creative writing at Wesleyan. After receiving her MFA from The American Film Institute, she worked for various production companies on film, television and commercial projects, before turning her focus to the digital world. West worked on digital videos and Internet software projects and ultimately became a partner in Setanta Technology and Marketing Consultants. She is also the founding president of The Summa Group Children's Foundation in Los Angeles, which supports community efforts that assist the youth of Los Angeles, with a particular focus on health, social and educational issues.

The 2018-2019 Santa Barbara Symphony Board of Directors includes: Don Gilman, Ed.D., President; Jon W. Greenleaf, Vice President; Christopher D. Harris, Treasurer; Stephen Erickson, Counsel; Pam; Johnston, Secretary; Kate Parker, Member-at-Large; Michelle Richardson, Member-at-Large; Arthur G. Swalley, Immediate Past President; Mikki Andina, Mashey Bernstein, Ph.D., David Chernof, M.D., Daniel Hochman, George Konstantinow, Ph.D., Art Kvaas, Kathryn R. Martin, Brett C. Moore, Stefan Riesenfeld, Peter Schlueer, Howard Jay Smith, Robert Weinman and Carrie West.

To learn more about donating to the Santa Barbara Symphony, contact Director of Development Amy Marshall at amarshall@thesymphony.org or by calling (805) 898-0107. For more information on the Santa Barbara Symphony, or its programming, visit www.thesymphony.org/.

The Santa Barbara Symphony, founded in 1953 on the belief that a special city deserves a special orchestra. Consistently lauded for its unique ability to present brilliant concerts, engage the community, and deliver dynamic music education programs, the organization prizes both innovation and artistic excellence, and is widely recognized as one of the region's premier cultural institutions. Its award-winning Music Education Center serves more than 10,000 students throughout Santa Barbara County each year. Charismatic Israeli conductor Nir Kabaretti was appointed music director of the Santa Barbara Symphony in 2006.