Kirby Richards is a graduate of the third MMIAM program cohort, completing the program in 2016. She is the Director of Operations for The VOCES8 Foundation USA and lives in Dallas, Texas.
What have you been up to? What are you doing in Dallas?
For the past two and a half years, I’ve been working for VOCES8 Foundation. The foundation was founded and is based in the UK, but I work remotely. I’m the only full-time US-based employee.
I joined the foundation as Director of Development, but over the last year, I’ve become the Director of Operations. My role has always been such an everything-but-the-kitchen sink job — it’s a small nonprofit and I was doing so many things — but it became clear that most of my work was shifting to operations. Eventually, it just made sense for my title to match what I was actually doing on a daily basis.
Tell me about the foundation.
The VOCES8 Foundation is a music education nonprofit. The organization was founded 20 years ago by a professional vocal ensemble started by two brothers and their friends, called VOCES8. They’re a Grammy-nominated group that’s grown to be the top mixed choral ensemble in the world. I get spoiled because I hear them all the time, but they really are incredible. Both brothers are still involved; one is now the CEO of the foundation and the other remains the Artistic Director and one of the singers in the ensemble. From the beginning, everywhere they toured, they also sought out opportunities to offer workshops, teacher training, and collaborative, community-oriented music experiences. They’ve always toured globally, but as the amount of time they spent in the United States increased, they really ramped up their education programs here. About six years ago, they established a 501c(3) and hired an Executive Director to lead the US work.
High School Workshop.
I was in a choir that VOCES8 worked with when I was in college in Fort Worth, so I’ve actually known about the foundation and its mission for more than a decade. Then when I did my second Master’s degree — after MMIAM — at The Courtauld in London, I would attend events at The VOCES8 Centre, a deconsecrated church in Central London they have for their programming. Basically, I just kept in touch with this group for years and years. So, when they began to search for their first full-time US employee, I went in saying, ‘Well, you know, I do have a degree in International Arts Management…’ The dominoes happened to fall at the right time to be in this place.
What from the MMIAM program do you use to do your job?
Well, VOCES8 is an international organization, so I am constantly moving through the complications, for lack of a better word, that stem from working in two different countries every single day. For example, there are differences in how arts funding is approached in the UK vs the US — the attitudes toward philanthropy, the attitudes toward the role of a board of directors, they’re all different. I knew this going into the job but I wouldn’t have had the exposure or the awareness of these different modalities of operating without the MMIAM.
You also lived in the UK, right? So, you also got to live some of that difference, right?
Right. I would say I’m very familiar with British culture. I lived in London for a year and a half while working on my second Master’s degree, an MA in Art History. I loved doing an international degree for my first Master’s and found the MMIAM to be such a rich experience. So I definitely wanted to do another program with that level of international engagement, and I love that my current job still has that element as well.
Do you have a typical workday?
It’s really all over the place; especially if we’re touring. I do a great deal of logistics and planning for tours and for our education programming, which means I have a lot of color-coded spreadsheets. I also often travel with our ensembles or our young professional Scholars as tour manager or development support, and help document our education work. The nights when there are performances require that I shift my whole professional work day. By the time we hold the performance, wrap up the meet and greet and the merchandise table, say our goodbyes, and maybe grab a drink with donors or other local connections, I could be working until 11 pm or midnight.
But there are defined limits! Our touring schedules are set months or years out, so I know I’m going to work nights and weekends for a time, but then I’ll be able to come home from a week or two weeks of tour, turn back into an introvert, and hibernate for a while. Because we’re a small organization, I’ve really been able to make my job what I wanted — there’s always a huge volume of things that need doing so I just started taking pieces on and doing them in the manner I thought they needed to be done. I enjoy keeping the trains running on time and I’m so happy to support people in this way. I don’t need to be the person at the front, I just want to improve everyone’s lot. So I’m happy.
Is there something you’ve done personally or professionally this year that you’re proud of?
Founding Lyyra, our new professional women’s ensemble, has been the biggest thing I’ve worked on this year! It’s our first ensemble based in the US, so it’s the focus of a lot of my work at the moment. When you look at the contemporary choral ensemble landscape, there are all these all-male groups. To our knowledge, there was no full-time women’s choral ensemble; it was a gap we’d talked about for years and years. Eventually, we decided ‘If no one else is going to do this, let’s just do it ourselves.’ We have the luxury of being a decently established nonprofit in two countries, so we had the infrastructure and could put actual money into it and make these singers feel secure.
In the booth producing at MPR Studios.
We ran a crazy audition process. Usually, we’re only ever auditioning for one role in our ensembles at a time, when someone leaves and we need to fill their spot. In that case, the person we’re looking for will need to fit into an existing, very well-defined sound. This time, we were starting from scratch and wondering how to make it work, playing with different combinations of voices and creating a new sound that feels fresh. It felt a bit like X Factor, trying to build this group. But it worked! Lyyra has already recorded an EP and shot videos, and has hit the road — with a full season of US, UK, and European concerts ahead! Right now they’re part-time, but the goal is to get to full-time employment for these six women in the next few years. Ultimately, the group hopes to expand and validate treble repertoire, lift underrepresented voices, and highlight American music in all its forms — and by doing so, encourage more organizations, composers, and singers to engage with the gender gap in choral music. It’s a really exciting and inspiring thing to be a part of!
Amazing! Congratulations! Is there anything I didn’t ask you that I should have?
I don’t think so but this has been lovely!
Preparing for a collaborative performance.