California Music Center

Marcy Straw
Interim Executive Director

From 2017 – 23, Marcy served as the Executive Director of CMC, recently pivoting to an interim role.  She also maintains a consulting practice founded in 1990 providing interim leadership, fundraising, strategy and marketing to nonprofit organizations and artists. Clients include Playwrights Foundation, San Francisco Girls Chorus, and Eugenie Chan Theater Projects. In 2016-17 she served as a Program Director for the Encore Fellowship Network. Previous leadership roles include Executive Director of the UC Student Association and the Bay Area Leadership Foundation; and Deputy Director of Pacific Environment. Marcy also led Bay Area arts icons Teatro ZinZanni and the Midsummer Mozart Festival. For six years she directed marketing for the California Shakespeare Theater and prior, for ODC Dance. Marcy holds a BS in Business and an MBA from John F. Kennedy University. In a previous incarnation, she was a sales executive in the cosmetics industry for over ten years.

Zoe Lin
Deputy Director

A 2022 graduate of the Columbia-Juilliard Exchange Program, Zoe earned degrees in English at Columbia and cello performance at Juilliard. She began studying cello at the age of five. At Juilliard, she was in the studio of Richard Aaron and previously studied with Michael Gelfandbein and Jonathan Koh.
Her musical appearances include Kneisel Hall Chamber Music, Aspen Music Festival, Meadowmount School of Music, From The Top, and Palo Alto Chamber Orchestra. In summer 2022 she served as an admissions assistant for From the Top; previous roles included project management assistant for Idagio, and internships at Idagio, Columbia Music Performance Program, and Park Ave Artists.

Mel Metcalfe III
Video Producer and Editor for online programming

Since 2020, Metcalfe has helped produce the #KleinOnline2020 and 2021, eight #Klein@Home Hours, six Third Thursdays online concerts and CMC’s fundraising galas. Metcalfe travels around the United States and globe, filming documentaries, live events, corporate videos, life style promos and branded content, capturing the story untold. As a producer, director of photography, director, editor, Metcalfe’s subjects range from Silicon Valley corporate videos, a cooking show series for kids, fashion, Rio Olympics, and international documentaries. Overseas experience in field production includes Western Europe, Kosovo, Laos, Thailand, Africa, Australia and Cuba. Metcalfe teaches domestic and international filmmaking boot camp for students from high school to university, and serves as an adjunct professor for Chapman University International Documentary Scholarship Program.

Klein Competition

Mitchell Sardou Klein
Artistic Director

For 39 years, Maestro Klein has served as Music Director and Conductor of the Peninsula Symphony. He has guest conducted numerous orchestras in the US and Europe, including the Seattle Symphony, New Polish Philharmonic, Richmond Symphony, Symphony Silicon Valley, Eastern Philharmonic, Suddetic Philharmonic, San Jose Symphony, Santa Rosa Symphony, Ballet San Jose, and California Riverside Ballet. He founded and is Music Director of the Peninsula Youth Orchestra, which he has led on over a dozen international concert tours. Maestro Klein served as Associate Conductor of the Kansas City Philharmonic (where he was also Principal Pops Conductor and Principal Conductor of Starlight Theater), and also served as Music Director of the Santa Cruz Symphony. He began cello studies at age four with his father, Irving Klein, founder of the Claremont Quartet, going on to perform as a cellist for many years.

Tessa Lark
Competition Mentor 

Tessa is the 1st prizewinner of the 2008 Klein Competition and has frequently returned to mentor semifinalists, perform in concert and participate in community outreach activities.  She is a recipient of  the 2020 Lincoln Center Emerging Artist Award, the Hunt Family Award, a 2020 Grammy Nomination for Best Classical Instrumental Solo for her recording of Michael Torke‘s Sky, the 2018 Borletti-Buitoni Trust Fellowship, a 2016 Avery Fisher Career Grant, Silver Medalist in the International Violin Competition of Indianapolis, and winner of the 2012 Naumburg International Violin Competition.  Tessa is not just an emerging superstar in the classical realm, but a highly acclaimed bluegrass fiddler in the tradition of her native Kentucky. Tessa has appeared with dozens of orchestras, festivals, and recital venues including Carnegie Hall, Ravinia, San Francisco Performances, Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, the Buffalo Philharmonic, and Marlboro Music.   In 2020 Tessa was named as a co-host and creative of From the Top, the NPR show and non-profit organization dedicated to celebrating the stories, talents, and character of young classically-trained musicians, and serves as the Artistic Director of Musical Masterworks.

Recent Posts

Join Our E-List for all the Latest!

Want to be the first to know about events, concerts, and the Klein Competition?  Join our email list.

By submitting this form, you are consenting to receive marketing emails from: California Music Center. You can revoke your consent to receive emails at any time by using the SafeUnsubscribe® link, found at the bottom of every email. Emails are serviced by Constant Contact