Symphony Hires New Executive Director, Myrick Leaves Amid Praise

At the end of the 2021-22 Season, Chandra will take over the Executive Director role from Kathy Myrick, whose retirement after a successful 15-year tenure includes a lasting legacy of tremendous growth and artistic achievement.

From the San Juan Symphony:

Wednesday, February 23, 2022

The San Juan Symphony is delighted to announce the appointment of Chandra Stubbs as the organization’s next Executive Director, effective April 1st, 2022. After an extensive search that included several highly qualified candidates from around the region, Chandra emerged as the unanimous choice of the Executive Director Search Committee. Chandra recently moved to Durango from Southwest Michigan, and she brings to the role a varied background in marketing, small business enterprises, and a passion for the arts.

“To say I am honored to be offered the position of Executive Director of the San Juan Symphony would be an understatement,” said Mrs. Stubbs in prepared remarks. “The San Juan Symphony is such a wonderful and important part of people’s quality of life in the Four Corners. I’m excited to help continue to introduce new audiences and keep our current patrons engaged as we move forward into a new era. It is so important to keep the Symphony visible, approachable, and accessible.”

Chandra is a graduate of Michigan State University’s School of Communications, where she focused on marketing and public relations. She gained national success as a ceramic artist, traveling the US and showing her work with the American Craft Council, Philadelphia Museum of Craft, and Smithsonian Craft while managing everything from production budgets and artist contracts to press releases, booth design, sales, and much more.

After 14 years on the road, Chandra decided to focus her talents locally and found the perfect fit as an Account Executive with Johson Ruahoff, a content and marketing agency. She worked in the photo studio and delivered content for national campaigns with clients such as Sharpie, Calphalon, Ball Jar, and Baby Jogger. While working at Johnson Rauhoff, Chandra developed a premier vacation rental property in Southwest Michigan. An early adapter in the VRBO market, Chandra realized the impact of vacation rentals on her community and pivoted to creating safe, affordable housing that allowed young families to save and transition into their own homes.

Chandra’s unique background allows her to understand an organization from multiple angles. The Board of Directors of the San Juan Symphony is particularly excited to harness Chandra’s ability to collaborate and create change, to manage multiple large-scale projects, and to bring people together around the arts. At the end of the 2021-22 Season, Chandra will take over the Executive Director role from Kathy Myrick, whose retirement after a successful 15-year tenure includes a lasting legacy of tremendous growth and artistic achievement.

The San Juan Symphony is an innovative regional orchestra that contributes to the cultural and educational enrichment of the diverse communities of the Four Corners area with inspiring live performances and creative collaborative efforts. The Symphony is now in its 36th Season, and shares its performances and membership between the Durango and Farmington communities.

Details about upcoming live performances of the San Juan Symphony and the SJS Youth Orchestra Program can be found online at www.sanjuansymphony.org. Two new performances have been added to the calendar as well, including a chamber music performance on May 8th (Music for Mother’s Day) in Durango, and the rescheduled “Carnival of the Animals” Family Concerts on May 21st and 22nd in Durango and Farmington.