Arts for Enrichment

MSO Music Director Elizabeth Schulze discusses the works that will be performed during the evening’s concert. Gain insight on Romantic-era composers Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel and Camille Saint-Saëns and pioneering 20th-century composer Florence Price, who was the first African American woman to have been recognized as a symphonic composer and the first to compose for a major American orchestra.

Open to all ticket holders

Maryland Symphony Orchestra Director of Development Jennifer-Joy Sutton and Michael Harp, MSO Director of Marketing & Public Relations, lead an in-depth session to discuss fundraising and marketing in the professional arts world.

Jennifer-Joy Sutton is the Director of Development at the Maryland Symphony Orchestra where she devises income-generating initiatives, with a focus on planned gifts, to sustain and advance a multimillion-dollar annual budget. With two decades of experience in the nonprofit arena, she is a dynamic and innovative leader with a proven track record of implementing strategic vision in collaboration with professional and volunteer leadership. She has been a featured speaker at SXSW in Austin, Texas, and taught at the University of Houston in areas of nonprofit development, social media and cybersecurity.

Driving organizational growth and success, Jennifer builds institutional strength and drives the growth of the MSO and its endowment. She creates highly effective fundraising campaigns as well as planned-giving programs by cultivating donors and devising compelling cases for support that share MSO’s story across various platforms.

Jennifer holds a Juris Doctor in Law & Economics from Syracuse University College of Law and is a graduate of the University of Miami Herbert Business School.

Michael Harp serves as the director of Marketing & Public Relations for the Maryland Symphony Orchestra. With over a decade of experience at MSO, he has demonstrated leadership in marketing, patron services, box office operations and the implementation of innovative digital solutions. Michael is MSO’s resident digital and print publication designer, oversees front-of-house operations and experiences, and spearheads strategies to cultivate new audiences and enhance the orchestra’s community engagement footprint. He previously worked for Walt Disney Theatrical Productions at the New Amsterdam Theatre in New York and has served in various roles within local, regional and collegiate performing arts organizations.

Michael holds a master’s degree in Higher Education Administration and previously served as director of Admissions for Penn State University, where he recruited students nationwide and increased campus enrollments. His approach to customer service and audience development is shaped by his commitment to exceeding patron expectations and creating memorable experiences, honed through his unique experiences with Disney and his broad background in hospitality, finance, higher education, and the arts.

Registration requested

---

Tibetan Monks of The Mytical Arts of Tibet

Lecture: The Power of Empathy and Compassion

Wednesday, April 30 | 6 PM
Cumberland Masonic Temple, 15 Greene St., Cumberland

Empathy, being aware of others’ perspectives and feeling how they feel, is essential in establishing an atmosphere of understanding, healthy relationships and informed engagement. This lays the groundwork for a wise compassion, not just a sense of pity or concern, but a much more resourceful and skilled mode of engagement and connection.

Registration requested

 

Lecture: Why Do We Need Each Other? 

Thursday, May 1 | 6 PM
Cumberland Masonic Temple, 15 Greene St., Cumberland

With changes in reality, marked particularly by the influence of social media and increasing globalization, the world has become a much smaller place. These changes by themselves are neither good nor bad but do represent a marked acceleration in the pace of our lives and access to almost anything. Our environment, in turn, has become more volatile and our lives more vulnerable, and this calls for an unprecedented need for responsibility and belonging. How do we achieve this? What role can each of us play? 

Registration requested

 

Lecture: The Symbolism of the Sand Mandala

Friday, May 2 | 6 PM
Cumberland Masonic Temple, 15 Greene St., Cumberland

The mandala is a sacred cosmogram – a geometric configuration of symbols – used as an object of contemplation. It depicts the pure nature of the world and shows how we can live better lives. By creating a sand mandala, we become aware of this natural perfection and receptive to the creative energy of that sacred dimension.

Registration requested