Exciting news: On October 1, we’ll be welcoming our new Executive Director, Jim Griffith! Jim succeeds our wonderful Interim Executive Director, Amy Lam, who will be with us through September 30.
Jim is a visionary leader with more than three decades’ worth of experience in performing arts management. Ralph Craviso, President of our Board of Trustees, said that Jim “brings unique experience and talent” to his new position and that he’s a “dynamic leader” who can successfully direct the Festival into the second half of its first century.
Jim is currently based in Fort Myers, Florida, where he’s the founder, president, and CEO of the Sidney & Berne Davis Art Center (SBDAC). The center is housed in a former abandoned federal building that Jim transformed into a premier, state-of-the-art, 30,000-square-foot venue. Today the center offers a wide range of programs, attracts more than 200,000 visitors annually, and is home to a recording studio, music and visual arts school, and rooftop sculpture garden.
Prior to his work with the SBDAC, Jim, who’s a native of Jacksonville, Florida, co-founded the Palm Beach Chamber Music Festival, the Gulf Coast Music School, and the chamber music– and modern dance–focused New Arts Festival, all in his home state.
Jim is also a highly trained and accomplished violist. He earned his bachelor’s degree at the Manhattan School of Music and his master’s degree at The Juilliard School, and he made his Carnegie Hall debut at age 20 as a member of the New York Virtuosi chamber orchestra. After returning to Florida, he performed as a member of the Naples Philharmonic from 1989 to 2022.
Jim is relocating from Fort Myers to Santa Fe with his wife, Kara Walker Griffith, a violinist.
“I’m elated and deeply honored to step into the role of Executive Director for the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival,” Jim said. “The Festival has long been a beacon of artistic excellence and community engagement, and I’m eager to work with Artistic Director Marc Neikrug and build upon the Festival’s rich legacy. Together with our talented artists and dedicated supporters, I look forward to exploring new horizons and sharing the transformative power of music with audiences far and wide.”
Marc Neikrug shares Jim’s sentiments, saying: “I’m very happy to welcome Jim to the Festival and look forward to working with a like-minded partner at this exciting time in the Festival’s history.”
All of us at the Festival look forward to working with Jim and to him being our next Executive Director. Please join us in giving Jim a very warm welcome!