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Artistic Director
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Roger Briggs, who has served on the faculty of Western Washington University since 1989, was born in Florence Alabama in 1952. Briggs was educated at the University of Memphis receiving his Bachelor's Degree in Music Composition and Piano Performance. He continued his studies at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester New York receiving a Masters Degree and a PhD in Music Composition. At Eastman, he studied conducting with Gustave Meyer and composition with Pulitzer Prizewinning composer Joseph Schwanter.
During his 11 years of teaching at St. Mary's College in Indiana, Briggs conducted the Michiana New Music Ensemble in South Bend for six years and was also a guest conductor for the South Bend Symphony. Since his appointment to the Western Washington University faculty as coordinator of composition, he established the Contemporary Chamber Players and conducted the Western Symphony Orchestra until 2001. After serving as Associate Conductor for three years, Briggs was named Artistic Director of the Whatcom Symphony Orchestra in 1997, simultaneously establishing the smaller Whatcom Symphony Chamber Orchestra.
Briggs has most recently conducted his own and other's compositions for recordings with such internationally renowned orchestras as the London Symphony and the Prague Symphony. His compositions have also been performed in New York's Weill Recital Hall, Chicago's Cultural Arts Center, Warsaw's Frederic Chopin Academy, and Moscow's Glinka Hall. Briggs is the recipient of awards from the National Endowment for the Arts, the New York State Arts Council, Indiana Arts Council, Meet the Composer, the MacDowell Colony and ASCAP.
More information is available at www.rogerbriggs.com
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Executive Director
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Mary Kay Robinson was named Executive Director of the Whatcom Symphony Orchestra in April of 2007. Her career first started out in music education. Mary Kay received her undergraduate degree in Music Education from the University of Wisconsin Madison and taught middle and high school general, instrumental and choral music. After a return to school to receive her MBA from the University of Northern Colorado, she made a career change and spent 20 years in the banking industry most recently in management with Washington Mutual.
In a recent interview she said "My new position with the Symphony combines my passion for music and music education with my business experience. My goal is for everyone to know the Symphony as one of the premier community orchestras in the country, both in terms of performance excellence and educational outreach efforts."
One of her first initiatives upon assuming the Executive Director role, was to run in the in the inaugural Bellingham Bay Marathon in October 7, 2007 and dedicate the run to raising money for the Symphony and its educational outreach programs. She also wrote a weekly column in the Sunday Sports Section of the Bellingham Herald detailing her thoughts and experiences in attempting to run her first marathon and how her passion for music education motivated her to pursue such an endeavor.
With the marathon complete and thousands of dollars raised for music education, she turned her sights towards creating an annual event in which everyone could participate. The first Beat Beethoven Family FunRun/Walk was May 3rd at Barkley Village and the course followed the beautiful Railroad and Whatcom Falls Trails. Instead of a traditional race gun start, runners and walkers listened for the downbeat of the Beethoven 5th Symphony to start off the race. The fastest runners finishing the course prior to the end of the Symphony 'beat Beethoven', and were awarded a free ticket to a future Symphony concert. Proceeds from the event benefited area youth music groups and the Symphony's music outreach programs.
