Rachel Cementina has been selected by the San Luis Obispo Symphony Board of Directors as the new executive director of SLO Symphony.
Cementina’s background in local nonprofit management and fundraising, combined with her passion for promoting community-based arts programs, will help to further advance the mission of the organization that celebrated its 60th anniversary last year, the board said.
“We are thrilled to welcome Rachel as our new executive director,” said Jim Walker, SLO Symphony Board president. “She will bring experience, enthusiasm, great communication skills and a fresh air to our organization.
“We feel very lucky to have found her and look forward to a successful and invigorating future with her at the helm.”
When Cementina assumes the role April 3, she will manage all day-to-day operations for the county’s regional orchestra, known for innovative performances, Youth Symphony/educational programs, and the annual POPS By The Sea program.
Cementina will lead fundraising programs, as well as marketing and community engagement initiatives.
Her background has included six years as the community engagement director for the United Way of SLO County. Most recently she served as the director of membership, marketing, and philanthropy for the San Luis Obispo YMCA.
“I am honored to join such a passionate group of musicians, staff and volunteers at the SLO Symphony,” Cementina. said. “I look forward to serving the community and promoting arts and music education on the Central Coast.”
Cementina will oversee the remainder of the 2022-23 season, which includes the fifth and final classics concert of the season Tchaikovsky and Testimony. The concert will be Saturday, May 6 at the Performing Arts Center SLO.
The symphony will be partnering with the Diversity Coalition of San Luis Obispo to bring the West Coast premier of William Banfield’s “Testimony of Tone, Tune, and Time.”
With seven short movements, the narration is based on the speeches of historical African American orator and abolitionist, Frederick Douglass. It is scored for two narrators, solo saxophone, piano, harp, percussion, and strings. The orchestra also will perform Tchaikovsky’s “Symphony Number 4.”
“I am delighted to welcome Rachel as the next executive director of the San Luis Obispo Symphony Orchestra,” said Andrew Sewell, music director and conductor. “She has a proven track record of commitment to and engagement with the SLO community and I am very excited to begin this new chapter together.”