ACCENT ON ALUMNI
Alumni Spotlight: Maria Guralnik, MNO '92
Q. You have been at the Van Cliburn Foundation in Fort Worth, Texas for 14 years. Explain to us a bit about the Foundation and y our role there.
The Van Cliburn Foundation was established in 1961 by a group of music teachers and leading citizens in Fort Worth wanting to honor Van Cliburn's historic victory at the 1958 Tchaikovsky Piano competition in Moscow with a piano competition bearing his name. From its beginning, now almost 50 years ago, the "Cliburn" has been among the most pre-eminent piano competitions throughout the world. It is presented every four years with the next event occurring in May 2009. One of the reasons it has always attracted young internationally-ranked artists is that its administrators placed emphasis not just on prize money, but concert engagements offered to all the finialists. The prize package for the top winner, awarded the Nancy Lee and Perry R. Bass Gold Medal, is valued at over $1 million. The package includes more then 150 concert dates with recital, orchestra, and festival presenters contracted here and abroad, as well as a commercially produced recording, promotional materials, and full management services provided by the Foundation over a three year period following the competition.
As General Manager of the Foundation since 1993, it is my chief responsibility to manage the winners of each competition. This includes procuring concert engagements throughout the U.S., producing their tours, and collaborating closely with each young artist regarding programming, scheduling, and future career possibilities. Although the Foundation is well-known in the classical music industry and enjoys wonderful support from the Fort Worth community, it is a small nonprofit organization - thus, I wear additional hats, keeping my job diverse and me at it for more than a decade! I assist in programming our annual Cliburn Concerts recital series - bringing world renown and emerging artists to perform for local audiences. In addition, we all share aspects of producing each Van Cliburn International Piano competition, as well as its fairly new "sister" event - the International Piano Competition for Outstanding Amateurs, a forum for gifted pianists who play the piano as an avocation rather than as a profession. We started a YouTube competition leading up to the next amateur competition (www.Youtube.com/VanCliburnFoundation).
Q. What brought you to the Mandel Center and what did you enjoy most about your time here?
As the daughter of a concert pianist, Robert Guralnik, interest and aptitude for arts management were born early. I graduated as a flutist from New York University and, like many aspiring concert artists, immediately found an office job. My first administrative position was as an assistant manager for Columbia Artists Management in New York - one of the larger agencies devoted to classical music. I could not have hoped for a better way to gain an overview of the field while learning to negotiate contracts, produce tours, and deal with a wide variety of international artists and producers. Working in an agent's office is an often overlooked way to develop the experience and the knowledge necessary to work in other areas of the performing arts field. Following four and a half years of intense work at Columbia Arts Management, I was ready to look at living outside of New York and also wanted to learn more about the presenting side of the business, primarily run by nonprofit organizations.
An ad in the back of The New York Times advertising the very new MNO program at Case Western Reserve University caught my attention and I remember calling the Mandel Center almost immediately. I was delighted that the Center was equally interested in my background in the performing arts and offered a scholarship if I participated in their second class of graduates. I was on a flight to Cleveland from New York within months. And, at that point, I was not sorry to leave the bigger metroplex behind. What I remember most fondly about my year and a half involvement with the program was the opportunity to spend good time reflecting on what was necessary to move the performing arts field forward and how I might find a better fit given my skills and experience. Another thing that I treasure is spending weekends at Arabica Coffee House... their excellent coffee certainly is responsible for my lifelong habit.
Q. You are also on faculty at Texas Christian University (TCU) facilitating a new arts administration program for undergraduate minors. How are you enjoying this new position and in what ways do you think it draws from your experiences at the Mandel Center?
The recent opportunity to become an adjunct professor at TCU has provided a way to share more than 20 years of practical management experience and knowledge gained from industry conferences and colleagues. It quickly became apparent that a fundamental understanding of nonprofit finances, operations, and organizational structure would be integral to our arts and communication majors understanding how to lead successful performing arts businesses. When I visited the nonprofit section of our university's vast library, I was impressed to find several text books authored by Mandel Center faculty and staff who I had been lucky to study with. One book included a case study I had co-authored with a classmate during my first year in the program. It reminded me of the very stimulating year and a half I spent at the Mandel Center and how fortunate I was to have encountered some of the most talented scholars who have focused on a sector still misunderstood and under-appreciated by many.
Q. What advice would you like to share with current or potential Mandel Center students?
Do your best to work or intern during the program so that you can bring that practical perspective to class discussions and out-of-class assignments. Nonprofit organizations and the philosophies that provide for their existence are at the heart of an America in which we can all take pride. Immersion in the kind of first-rate program the Mandel Center offers will ensure you always put "mission" first.
Q. What other interests, hobbies, organizations, etc are you currently involved in?
I am a volunteer docent at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth and am past-president of North American Performing Arts Managers and Agents.
Q. Is there anything else you would like to share with us?
The performing arts are often misperceived as existing for only a certain socio-economic demographic of our society. Just as anyone born anywhere might become a great artist - anyone born anywhere has the right to appreciate and encounter great artists. The nonprofit system allows the best of our diverse cultural traditions to be preserved, taught, and shared with today's audiences.
