Managing an Orchestra and a Theater with Anne Catherine Murray
In today's episode, I interviewed the Executive Director of the August Symphony (GA), Anne Catherine Murray on how she manages an orchestra. She’ll share her wisdom on the management side of a performing arts organization and a theater, discuss the challenges of managing personnel, how she was able to find her purpose, and how she navigated problems brought by the pandemic
Anne Catherine Murray joined the Augusta Symphony in 2015. During this time, she has overseen two organizational restructures, the international search for a music director, and the completion of the $23M capital campaign and construction project to restore the historic Miller Theater and the adjacent Knox Music Institute. At the outset of the pandemic, the Augusta Symphony took over management of the Miller Theater, and Murray now oversees both companies.
Prior to joining the Symphony, Murray served as Vice President and Project Manager of Flywheel, LLC, where she assisted in the adaptive use of several historic Augusta buildings, including Enterprise Mill, Sutherland Mill, andWilliam Robinson SchoolHOUSE.
She is a graduate of the first class of women at Washington and Lee University and earned a Masters in Historic Preservation from the University of Georgia. Before moving to Augusta, she was the Revolving Fund Director for the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation. She has served on the boards of Historic Augusta, Inc., Safe Homes of Augusta, Inc., the Vestry of the Church of the Good Shepherd, and currently serves on the board of Turn Back The Block and the Metro Augusta Chamber of Commerce.