Since I was 11, I knew I wanted a life in music. As a music major, I spent most of my time at Wellesley in the practice rooms of Jewett. I wanted to be an opera singer. My plan was to spend the year after graduation working while I prepared for graduate school auditions.
The summer after my junior year, I received a Center for Work and Service (CWS) summer stipend to intern at the Boston Early Music Festival, the largest of its kind in North America. Luminaries from all over the world come to Boston for a week to present dozens of concerts and stage a Baroque opera. My internship through the help of the CWS opened my eyes to the field of arts administration—I really loved learning about everything that went into making music happen onstage.
After graduation, I was offered and accepted a job at the same festival. Still focused on having a career as a performer, I thought I would stay for about a year before going to graduate school. However, my plans were sidetracked when I was not accepted to the graduate schools of my choice. I was at a crossroads, asking myself: ‘How should I move on? Should I reapply to grad school? Should I leave music entirely?’
The answer came to me as I was working a concert for Boston Early Music Festival at Jordan Hall, where I had recently been promoted from the position of Audience Service Manager to Development Associate. To me, a meaningful career meant making music happen. It was about making a difference. And for me, I learned, I was best able to make that difference as an arts administrator.
My CWS internship not only helped me land my first job in the field, but also gave me the opportunity to start building my career right out of college. I’m currently the Executive Director of Cantata Singers, a wonderful choir and orchestra in Boston that has been a leader in defining the choral canon for almost 50 years. I have a small staff and work with a wonderful board of directors as well as an incredibly talented set of musicians.
Every day, in countless ways, I get to do my small part in making sure that the music gets heard, be it an exquisite Baroque Mass that has never been performed in Boston, a beloved icon of the Classical canon that is rarely sung in the language the composer intended, or a new work that is being presented to the world for the very first time.
Jennifer Ritvo (Kunzendorf) Hughes graduated Magna Cum Laude from Wellesley in 2006 with a degree in Music. She is Executive Director at the Cantata Singers in Boston. For interested students, Cantata Singers is currently hiring — log-in to MyCWS and search for job 7604.