Mary Ann Pulk

Mary Ann Pulk joined VocalEssence as managing director in 2003 and was promoted to executive director in 2011. Under her leadership she has firmly established the VocalEssence brand name as representing excellence in choral music and community engagement programs. During her tenure the organization has expanded its core of professional singers who tour regionally and internationally; released seven recordings on the Clarion label; expanded the WITNESS School Program, created ¡Cantaré!, a new exploration of the music of Mexican composers; and mounted a major festival celebrating the music of William Bolcom. Before moving to Minnesota, she served as the executive director of the Grammy Award-winning Phoenix Boys Choir. With the Phoenix Boys Choir she managed an international search for a new artistic director, implemented an expanded cultural diversity program focused on the Latino community and founded an all-alumni Men's Choir. During her tenure, a $1.2 million endowment fund was established. Mary Ann served as director of education for the Phoenix Symphony, coordinating programs that reached over 30,000 students annually and implementing a collaborative program bringing together the music of Native Americans and Western classical music. At Stanford University, she participated in the inaugural class of the national Executive Nonprofit Leadership training program for arts administrators. Mary Ann is active as a leader and mentor in the national choral music scene, serving as a member of Chorus America’s Choral Management Institute faculty and as a music panelist for the National Endowment for the Arts. Active in the Minnesota arts community, Mary Ann serves on a number of boards and performs as a member of the oboe section of the Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra.