OI Interview | Emma Scherer, Santa Fe Symphony's Executive Director
Emma Scherer, Executive Director, Santa Fe Symphony.
(Santa Fe, NM) - We’re especially excited to share this chat with Emma Scherer, who we’ve known since her time at The Santa Fe Opera, working closely with Charles MacKay, while also running the company’s Executive Office and Board Relations. We met in 2015, when I had the opportunity to onsite consult with SFO public relations and apprentice artists that season. I was immediately impressed by everything Emma did and how she did it; a professional’s professional who kept everything and everyone moving forward, towards that day’s business goals, with an eye to the evening’s performance and everything that meant for Mr. MacKay and countless others. Fast-forwarding to the present, Emma has been The Santa Fe Symphony’s Executive Director since September 2021 and is preparing for the company’s 40th season in 2023/4. However, on the way there, Emma and collaborators launched the Art + Sol | Santa Fe Winter Arts Festival in February 2023 - nine days “celebrating all that makes Santa Fe a fabulous winter destination,” including “daytime and evening shows across town…world-class culinary offerings…stunning exhibitions at galleries and museums, and…performances highlighting the very best of Santa Fe, from rock to jazz, from comedy to classical music.” Jumping on a Zoom right before Art + Sol began, Emma demonstrated how her many endeavors and collaborations not only elevate the art forms of classical music, opera and more, but most critically, The City Different in which they are found. Brava! JBM
JBM: OK, so we're going to start our conversation with Emma soon (looking at screen). Here’s Emma. How are you?
ES: I'm doing really well, James. How are you?
JBM: I'm good. You're probably right in the thick of everything, I'm thinking, so thanks for connecting with me.
ES: Oh, my pleasure. Potentially, this gives each of us a platform to talk about our organizations and the arts in general, and Santa Fe, too, so I'm thrilled to connect.
JBM: Excellent and thank you, let’s start there. Let’s talk about Art + Sol Santa Fe, why now?
ES: The Art + Sol Festival is a joint idea that me, Amy Iwano, and Andréa Cassutt hatched. I’m so glad it’s happening. But really, it's celebrating the arts organizations that already do great work here in Santa Fe. Those of us who are local and full time in Santa Fe know that the Winter arts scene and art and culture scene is just as vibrant as the summertime’s. But a lot of tourists have no idea. I can't tell you, coming from the opera world, how many people I talked to who are surprised that Santa Fe has a symphony or say, "Oh, so you guys put on four or five concerts a year, right?" We actually do 14 concerts a year, of varying sizes and in varying locations, and we are just one of the two dozen performing arts organizations in Santa Fe alone. So, I really felt like this was a chance for us to attract new visitors to Santa Fe so that they may experience our arts organizations here during the winter months. It's also a great chance for us to talk about what we're already doing and how we see our organizations are growing.
JBM: This makes so much sense. Can you tell me about the organizations that are involved in Art + Sol | Santa Fe and how they're contributing?
ES: Sure. So, Art + Sol | Santa Fe is a collaboration between Performance Santa Fe, Santa Fe Pro Musica, and The Santa Fe Symphony and Chorus. We were also incredibly fortunate to have two presenting sponsors from the beginning. AGM Nevada, the parent company of New Mexico’s KHFM Classical, and a bunch of other digital and radio media organizations. Then, Tourism Santa Fe came onboard with a grant that’s helped Art + Sol market to out-of-state residents more than 100 miles away. These are funds that are specifically designed to drive traffic here to Santa Fe, especially in the winter months, when occupancy rates at hotels are lower, restaurants are less busy than they normally are, and galleries don't see the same level of foot traffic that they see in the summer months. So, we’ve been able to use that grant money to purchase digital advertising in Denver, Colorado Springs, El Paso, Phoenix, Tucson, Scottsdale, and I believe Dallas, as well, to attract audiences that could potentially come over for President's Day weekend. We also we sent a direct mail postcard to households in the Denver and Scottsdale metro areas as another way to get the word out, and Tourism (Santa Fe) helped with that, as well.
“The goal of Art + Sol isn't just to make life better for people who already live here. It's also to demonstrate what's amazing about Santa Fe for our visitors so that they come back during the winter months.”
JBM: That's awesome. We love all of this, how (Art + Sol) was able to plug right into those resources.
ES: The goal of Art + Sol isn't just to make life better for people who already live here. It's also to demonstrate what's amazing about Santa Fe for our visitors so that they come back during the winter months. And even if they don't ski, or even better if they do ski, they know that there's a ton to do at night and, you know, during the daytime.
JBM: That's fantastic. I love the coordination. Santa Fe absolutely needs more of this. Congratulations on all, I'm sure it's an incredible group of people, but it's probably a lot of cats to herd and organize. So, big kudos. Could you tell me more about the chorus? I personally didn’t realize that there was a chorus attached to the Santa Fe Symphony.
ES: Absolutely. Our Santa Fe Symphony Chorus has been performing for well over a decade. And they've evolved over the years because we, since our founding, have done an annual performance of Handel's Messiah. So, every year in 1984, we’ve had Handel's Messiah on the docket…we're in our 39th season now. In recent years, under the direction of Carmen Flórez-Mansi, whom you may remember as the conductor of Hometown to the World last year with Santa Fe Opera, she acts as our choral director for Santa Fe Symphony Chorus. It’s a group that's made up of professional singers, as well as dedicated volunteer singers. We also have a Choral Scholars Program that recruits talented high schoolers to audition for our chorus and get professional performance experience with the Symphony Chorus. We’re now up to five (5) concerts a year with our chorus members, which has expanded from Handel's Messiah to standalone chorus concerts, as well as concerts that have a Chamber Orchestra plus Chorus. The choral group performs in smaller groups, as well, across the city. And then we're able to do amazing masterworks like Berlioz's Roméo et Juliette because we have an incredibly talented chorus. So, they're a really important part of what we offer to the community. And, especially in recent years under Principal Conductor Guillermo Figueroa's leadership, that’s grown and really flourished.
JBM: Fantastic. I had intellectual knowledge of the Santa Fe Symphony, but not the same for the chorus, so thanks for the background. Continuing with classical voice, there’s obviously been previous coordination with Santa Fe Opera. How do you see future collaboration and coordination with SFO, as you continue in your leadership role? What's in store or anything you'd like to share on that front?
ES: Obviously, opera is near and dear to my heart. I loved my time at Santa Fe Opera. I met my husband there, and he's still in the business, and so many of our friends are in the opera world. I view the Santa Fe Symphony and the symphony world and the opera world as overlapping circles. You know, people who love and support classical music do it in so many ways, whether it's ballet, opera, symphony, choral, you name it. So there's a lot of overlap, and I feel like some of the most amazing symphonic performances we're able to offer also include voice, whether it's our chorus or vocal soloists; there are masterworks like Beethoven's 9th and the Berlioz we're presenting this season. Last season, we did Stravinsky's Symphony of Psalms, and of course, since 2019, excluding the pandemic year, we've offered a Christmas Eve concert of opera arias, duets, and quartets with Santa Fe Opera as our co-producer. I love operatic music, and I really enjoy working with my friends at Santa Fe Opera across the table now, if you will, because they are a very collaborative organization as well, and they're deeply invested in Santa Fe. Although they are a summer festival, they're up to things all year round. I know you've attended the education tours before and some of their community concerts, their apprentice programming, so they're really invested in Santa Fe year-round, and we’re thrilled that their collaboration with Santa Fe Symphony is a part of that.
JBM: Thanks for this explainer, which will give everyone a sense of the collaborative nature of that relationship, as well as how Santa Fe Symphony approaches partnerships. SFS offers its full-scale orchestra with many Santa Fe Opera singers, so people may experience this outside the summer months, right? By the way, my understanding is that many SFO orchestra members are from elsewhere, correct?
ES: Yes, regarding the Santa Fe Opera orchestra, a few (members) are from New Mexico, and many come from out of state and stay for the summer months and then go back to their home states or home orchestras during the year. Actually, a few of our Santa Fe Symphony musicians also play or sub with the opera during the summer. Similarly, some of our orchestra members also play up and down the Rockies or play at other summer festivals. But I have to say, our musicians love playing with singers because there's this electricity, not only with the Maestro, but also with a singing soloist…that’s something you can't replicate anywhere else, that collaboration between an orchestra and a singer.
“I see growth in promoting our musicians and their stories, as most of them are familiar faces and world-class musicians who live right here in New Mexico.”
JBM: Yeah, I’d agree. Not that I'm a musician, but I loved the performance of the quartet from Rigoletto (on Christmas Eve).. it was presented that season I was at Santa Fe, and it’s one of my favorite operas. The quartet, in my non-musician mind, is what makes or breaks Rigoletto. In 2015, it was so beautifully done because we could hear distinct, individual voices. Can you hear that contralto? Can you hear the soprano? Is it making sense on stage? Santa Fe obviously worked, and then, of course, (SFS’s) Night at the Opera amazing. But I've seen Gilda is out-singing Quinn Kelsey on stage in San Francisco, the soprano singing the role of Maddalena unheard! Anyway, it was an "OMG, I love this” moment, my sincere thanks to everyone for this!
ES: So, I have to tell you a great anecdote. Amber Norelai, our Christmas Eve concert’s soprano, is so amazingly talented. There was a moment backstage during our rehearsal, our first rehearsal, where they were talking with me about the conductor and about tempo and how they articulate what they want. I said, "This is going to be different for you because you’re not being conducted by the Maestro. The Maestro is looking to you and the tempo that you want to set, and he is conveying it to the orchestra." So, it's very different than being on stage with an orchestra in the pit, a completely different type of collaboration. And for most of the (Santa Fe Opera) Apprentice Artists who sing on our Night at the Opera concerts, it's of one of their first concert performances with a full-scale orchestra, in a professional setting.
Another singer said, "Well, I can sing it a little faster." And I said, "No, no, no. You tell us what you need, and then it's a conversation with Maestro, about whether he agrees, and then we move forward." So, to me, that was incredibly cool because it's very different than singing (an opera) with an orchestra in the pit, and it's a whole different set of skills. It’s also a totally different way to interact with a conductor, as well as your fellow collaborators on stage.
JBM: Wow. Thank you. I mean, I wouldn't have known any of that had you not explained it to me, so that's beyond, I appreciate it so much, Emma.
ES: You’re so welcome!
JBM: Okay, let's see. So, in reference to the last question (discussed via email), we're open to innovation and we talk about the business of opera. What does innovation look like for SFS? The experience, the business, new places that you're wanting to take the orchestra?
ES: The Symphony is heading into its 40th season, so as we approach our 40th anniversary, we'll be taking a hard look at what got us here over these last 40 years and what we want the next 40 to look like. We have an amazing board that’s energized by the prospect of planning our 40th anniversary as well as our future. Our board is unique in a remarkable way, as only a handful of orchestras across the country have an operating board comprised not only of volunteer leadership, but also musicians active in our Symphony Orchestra; per our bylaws, 25% of our operating board are current, tenured musicians. This means that when we consider our future and our business model, the musicians are always at the core of it, not just another employee group, but an integral part of how we think about our future.
I see growth in promoting our musicians and their stories, as most of them are familiar faces and world-class musicians who live right here in New Mexico. Our choral and orchestral musicians are, again, an integral part of how we view the decades to come. Next season, I’m laser-focused on storytelling and look forward to getting our musicians' stories in front of all Santa Feans, especially those who are new to The City Different or newly on our radar.
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Connect with Emma Scherer here.
Follow @thesantafesymphony on Instagram. Visit santafesymphony.org.
JBM for Opera Innovation