Today we’d like to introduce you to Nancy Brunson.
Hi Nancy, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
A native of St. Joseph, MO, I returned after many years away to lead the Saint Joseph Symphony as its Executive Director. What is probably my final chapter has come full circle. It was in St. Joseph that I discovered my “voice” as a singer at a young age. After graduating from high school, I left to pursue degrees in vocal performance from the University of Kansas and the College Conservatory of Music at the University of Cincinnati. I even have a diploma in German Lieder from the Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria thanks to the Rotarians in St. Joseph. So this community where I have returned is key to who I am today.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Being a professional musician is never “smooth” in this country. There are so few opportunities compared to other cultures to pursue a life-sustaining career in the arts of any kind. So after 11 years of performing professionally with some success I decided to look for opportunties to further the careers of other performers.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I have quite the “checkered past” but all of it has to do with the performing arts in some way. I worked for 11 years as a professional singer and have 3 degrees in classical music performance from US and European conservatories. Realizing that I wanted more, I then transitioned to a successful career as a Hollywood talent agent and casting director for over 20 years, representing major stars and developing some of the talent we know well today. After leading my own agency for 7 years, I decided to retire and move back to the Midwest to be closer to family. I worked as an acting and audition coach and then moved to the Dallas/Fort Worth area where I became a daily classical music announcer/program director/host and producer at WRR-FM for 5 years. There I worked closely to promote the symphonies and arts organizations in North Texas. My ex took a job in Whitefish, MT and I secured a job in Marketing, Communications, and Artistic and Educational Outreach for the Glacier Symphony Orchestra in Kalispell, MT. This job helped me in my decision to pursue a position as the Executive Director for a regional orchestra. After workng for a classical station in Albuquerque and then the Louisville Orchestra, I secured that “dream job” – as fate would have it – back in my hometown of St. Joseph, MO. Throughout my life musical perfomance has been an avocation and to this day I still enjoy singing and perfoming If I had to say what sets me apart, is the incredible opportunites I have had on all sides of the perfoming arts that inform my daily decisions and give me a perspective that is unique on so many levels.
Can you talk to us a bit about the role of luck?
I don’t believe in luck. I believe in Providence. That being said, I have been blessed with so many experiences and business positions to use my talents and to continually evolve and learn every day. And I have had the privilege and pleasure of working with incredibly talented artists and people who have affected and contributed to my personal journey.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://saintjosephsymphony.org/
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/stjoesymph
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/stjoesymphony
