Emma M. Marzen
SFDC News:
SANTA FE — Santa Fe Desert Chorale Board President Patricia Stanley has announced the appointment of Emma M. Marzen as executive director, effective Jan. 16, 2020.
Marzen succeeds Janice L. Mayer who has served as the Chorale’s executive director since June of 2015. The Board of Directors said it is deeply grateful for Mayer’s leadership and dedication to SFDC over the past five years.
“We celebrate the homecoming of Emma Marzen as she returns to lead the Desert Chorale family,” Stanley said. “Having already contributed tremendously to the Chorale’s success, Emma knows its intricacies, is respected and fully supported by the Board, and understands the Chorale’s unique place in the Santa Fe community and arts economy of New Mexico. We are confident that under Emma’s leadership, the Chorale will continue to fulfill its mission ‘to excite, engage and inspire diverse audiences with the beauty and power of great choral music.’”
In accepting the appointment, Marzen said, “It is a true privilege to return to SFDC and take up the mantle of leadership for an organization so dear to my heart. As a lifelong choral singer, it is deeply fulfilling to support the Santa Fe Desert Chorale, a choral ensemble of the finest caliber and a beloved Santa Fe musical institution. I greatly look forward to working with the Board of Directors and Artistic Director Joshua Habermann to further the mission and vision of the Chorale.”
Habermann said, “I am thrilled to welcome Emma Marzen back to the Desert Chorale as executive director. Emma is a skilled administrator and a passionate advocate for our art form. I look forward very much to our collaboration.”
Marzen currently serves as board relations manager of the Santa Fe Opera, one of the world’s leading opera companies. In her previous role as assistant director of the Santa Fe Desert Chorale, she was responsible for the coordination and execution of development, community engagement, operations, and programming initiatives. She was promoted to this role after less than two years as box office manager and community liaison.
Marzen holds a Certificate in Professional Fundraising from Boston University and Bachelor of Music in Music Business & Entertainment Industries from the University of Miami. While an undergraduate, she managed the Frost School of Music concert facilities and led the Frost School of Music’s student-run record label ‘Cane Records, garnering the 2016 Independent Music Award for Best Album Compilation with its release “For the Record”.
Marzen is a professionally trained singer and a native of Baltimore, Md. She and her husband Sean Johnson a professional jazz musician and director of communications for New Mexico School for the Arts, co-founded and direct Mesa Creative Solutions, LLC, a media, web development, identity and marketing consulting outfit based in Santa Fe.
