Silicon Valley Creative Loretta McClellan Hired as Marketing and Communications Director
Santa Cruz Symphony Board President Dorothy Wise states, “We are thrilled to have Loretta McClellan join the Santa Cruz Symphony family. Her excellent background and enthusiasm for the Symphony will help us achieve our goals of engaging new audience members and raising the visibility of the Symphony within our community and beyond. Welcome!”
A San Jose native with lifelong ties to Santa Cruz, Ms. McClellan brings to the Symphony marketing, communications and public relations leadership in agency, corporate and nonprofit arenas. Formerly Director of Communications at Arcadia Health Care in San Francisco and Marketing Director with a San Jose Real Estate Corporation, it was with her firm, McClellan Creative, that cultivating media for nonprofits began.
“We are very excited to have Loretta join our team! She brings a deep marketing experience and is a talented author, poet and artist. We look forward to witnessing Loretta’s muse take flight and broaden the Symphony’s outreach,” states Jan Derecho, executive director.
An author of fiction, nonfiction and poetry, with formal education in fine art, Ms. McClellan began her career as a graphic designer and journalist, both mainstays of her repertoire. An amateur musician who studied the accordion, as well as the violin and soprano recorder, she received honors in an international music competition for lyrics composition. An active watercolorist, her volunteer experience in teaching in the Arts for adults and in elementary and middle schools, along with leading a 125-member women’s humanitarian aid organization for two years will also contribute to her new management role.
“Joining the Santa Cruz Symphony is like coming home for me, as classical music has always been an abiding source of well-being. To steward the marketing and media efforts for such a stellar organization, led by a dynamic and resourceful executive director, supported by an equally passionate board of directors, whose purpose is to inspire, engage and educate through classical music as a medium, is cause to celebrate,” affirms McClellan.
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Founded in 1958, the Santa Cruz Symphony’s mission is to inspire, educate and engage through artistic excellence, distinctive musical performances, and varied activities that celebrate and enhance the cultural vibrancy of Santa Cruz County. With Maestro Daniel Stewart as Music Director since 2013, the Symphony partners regularly with regional and international guest artists in both traditional and modern concerts. A cornerstone of the performing arts in the Greater San Francisco and Monterey Bay Areas, Santa Cruz Symphony receives frequent critical acclaim. Visit santacruzsymphony.org for more information.