The San Luis Obispo Symphony is thrilled to announce the appointment of Anna James Miller as Executive Director.

Anna is a former professional ballet dancer and dance teacher with over a decade of performing arts leadership experience. Originally from the East Coast, Anna moved to the Seattle area in 2000 and worked for organizations including Seattle Opera, Northwest Chamber Orchestra, Spectrum Dance Theatre, Icicle Arts, Icicle Creek Theatre Festival, Federal Way Symphony, Auburn Symphony, and Bremerton Symphony. Most recently, Anna worked in a communications role with Kitsap Community Foundation, organizing a regional day of giving expected to raise over $1.5M for 330 local nonprofits, and assisting with the launch of a COVID-19 community relief fund and resource directory.

With a deep passion for education as well as the arts, Anna taught funding and grant writing for nonprofits at Olympic College’s Business and Technology Division and served as a teaching assistant for graduate and PhD courses in Gonzaga University’s School of Leadership Studies. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in arts administration from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, a Master of Arts in organizational leadership from Gonzaga University, and professional certificates in advanced fundraising and grant and proposal writing.

“We are’re excited to bring Anna on board and think she’ll make a great addition to the SLO Symphony family,” says Mark Sherman, President of the Board of Directors for the SLO Symphony. “She has the expertise and vision we were looking for to continue pushing the kind of positive changes we have seen from the organization over the last few years.”

Paul Severtson, who has served as Interim Executive Director since December 2019, looks forward to continuing his involvement with the Symphony as a community leader and musician. “I’ve enjoyed being a part of this transition, and am glad we were able to find Anna,” he says. “I’m leaving the post in excellent hands.”

Anna has already begun her transition, working closely with Symphony staff and Maestro Andrew Sewell during the last few weeks, in anticipation of taking the reins on June 1 and leading the way into the 2020-2021 season.