Photo by Marshall Smith
Idyllwild Arts Foundation President Pamela Jordan announced a number of new hires for key management positions including film chair, music chair, chief development officer and director of programs. Each will be profiled in articles beginning this week.
Heather Netz, current music faculty and assistant to the music chair, will take on greater responsibility as orchestra and Lowman Hall manager, while retaining teaching responsibilities. Lowman Hall is the new concert hall near completion and should be ready when Academy students return in fall 2015.
Netz, graduate of the prestigious Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York holds a bachelors of arts in violin performance and a masters of music in violin performance and literature. She also holds a postgraduate degree “with distinction” in orchestral performance from the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow, Scotland.
IA Head of School Dr. Doug Ashcraft calls Netz an organizational dynamo for having skillfully balanced during the previous year an unwieldy portfolio of: teaching, serving as string sectional coach, Academy advisor to four students, as well as assisting the music chair in managing full- and part-time faculty, overseeing and coordinating daily departmental operations, scheduling and coordinating off-campus student music lessons, and hiring professional musicians to hold sectionals and perform in IAA Orchestra concerts.
Of her new responsibilities, Netz said a primary goal is to rebuild the IAA Orchestra over the next two years. “We have amazing teachers and we are in the process of thinking outside the box on how to best attract new students,” said Netz. “We also need to find new donors to help fund scholarships. Artistry and mastery are not limited to certain [economic] classes. Talent is everywhere, in all walks of life. There are so many kids that are ambitious that need assistance.” As Lowman Hall manager, Netz will work with IAA Orchestra Conductor Timothy Verville to organize programs, arrange setup of the hall for concerts and coordinate repertoire.
In addition to her IAA responsibilities, Netz said she’d continue to assist Anna Ancheta’s Bridge Program that provides string training to players of all ages in the Hemet/San Jacinto/Idyllwild area on a no- or low-cost basis. Netz hopes to continue to recruit for the program, and rehearse and direct large and small ensembles and organize concerts. “I think it’s important to find ways to give back,” she said.
“I am so grateful to Idyllwild Arts to have the opportunity to come here and be with my husband,” said Netz. “When I first came here, the only unknown was my musical career. Now I get to teach and work in an orchestral model. I can’t speak highly enough about the [IAA] teachers I work with.” Netz is married to Craig Savage and has a 15-month-old toddler, Sky, and two boys from Savage’s previous marriage. Prior to coming to Idyllwild, Netz was on faculty at Central Washington University in Ellensburg, Washington.
