Kelly Lucera

Appointed President of the Long Beach Symphony in 2013, Ms. Lucera’s tenure includes ending each year with a surplus, increasing the Board of Directors from 25 to 42, growing the donor base and giving levels, negotiating multi-year collective bargaining agreements with the local musicians’ union resulting in increased wages and services, managing a music director search process, creating a planned giving program, and assembling a new, strong administrative team. In recognition of her transformative work, the Symphony won the Long Beach Chamber of Commerce Award for Outstanding Non-profit in 2015 and Ms. Lucera won Mayor Garcia’s Go Long Beach Award in 2016, as well as the award for outstanding arts management by the Arts Council for Long Beach and the NAACP Founders Award, both in 2017. In June of 2018 Ms. Lucera won the 40 Inspiring Leaders Award by the Nonprofit Center of Southern California. Dedicated to a thriving cultural landscape for all arts organizations in the region, Ms. Lucera was appointed by Mayor Garcia to the Queen Mary Land Development Task Force commission resulting in the City Council approval of a world-class amphitheater, aka “The Summer Home of the Long Beach Symphony” on Queen Mary Island.

Formerly the President & CEO of the nationally-renowned Pacific Chorale in Orange County, during her nine-year tenure she achieved an 86% increase in contributed revenue and a 50% increase in ticket revenue. Under her leadership, the Chorale relocated to the world-class Renée & Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall, produced seven recordings, commissioned nine world premieres, won the highly-coveted ASCAP Award for Adventurous Programming, and operated with a balanced budget for seven consecutive years. During her tenure, Ms. Lucera was nominated for the 2013 Women in Business Award by the Orange County Business Journal.

Previously serving as Vice President of Development, Marketing and Public Relations of the Orange County School of the Arts, Ms. Lucera raised over $39 million during her tenure, including a $25 million capital campaign. A former teacher and arts mentor for Downey USD where she won Teacher of the Year for two consecutive years, she also has held positions with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Pacific Symphony. She holds a Bachelor’s degree, a K-12 Teaching Credential and a Master’s degree, both from the University of California at Los Angeles.

Dedicated to strengthening orchestras and arts managers, Ms. Lucera served as a 10-year member and as President of the Board of Directors of the Association of California Symphony Orchestras and was a faculty member for the national service organizations, Chorus America and the League of American Orchestras. Having raised nearly $80 million during her career, she actively consults with local and national orchestras and choruses, serves as a presenter at state and national conferences and has served twice as a grants panelist for the National Endowment for the Arts and the California Arts Council. Committed to community service, she is a member of Steel Magnolias which raises funds for children with special needs and, as a Rotarian, was elected as Vice President of the Long Beach Rotary in 2016/2017. She has been a resident of Long Beach for over 30 years where she has been the soprano soloist and an active volunteer at her church while raising her two children, ages 19 and 21.