Art-to-Art Palette Journal

Tucson Symphony ‘grabs’ Blakeman

In early November 2014, the Nashville Symphony’s chief operating officer Mark Blakeman heads west to assume his new post as president & CEO of the Tucson Symphony Orchestra, which is longest continuously performing professional arts organization in Arizona, where it impacts more than 120,000 lives each year. “The opportunity to live in Tucson and serve the Tucson Symphony Orchestra is a great honor,” Blakeman said. “The TSO is a dynamic, highly accomplished orchestra, and the city of Tucson has a really wonderful energy.”

TSO President Blakeman
TSO President Blakeman

     During his 15-year tenure with the Nashville Symphony, Blakeman has played an important role in nearly all of the major accomplishments of the organization. In that time, the organization has experienced unprecedented growth – from 55 full-time musicians in 1999 to today’s 80-plus players – and now boasts a discography of more than 24 commercially available recordings, which have earned a total of 14 GRAMMY® nominations and seven GRAMMY® Awards. Blakeman was involved in the planning and construction of Schermerhorn Symphony Center, and helped oversee the $40 million reconstruction of the Schermerhorn following the Nashville flood of 2010.

     “…Mark has been promoted through the ranks at every phase of his career here; he has been an incredible asset to the Nashville Symphony,” said Symphony president & CEO Alan Valentine. “Since stepping into the position of COO last fall, Mark has created a renewed focus on performance metrics and accountability at the Nashville Symphony, and in the process, he has helped the organization reach record-breaking ticket sales, strengthen expense management and dramatically improve financial results from operations.”

     For more information on events, see www.tucsonsymphony.org.

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