As the month and the year come to an end, so, too, does the tenure of our longtime Director of Development, Cece Derringer, who retires on December 31. Cece’s time at the Festival marks a full-circle experience for our cherished colleague, as both her first and last jobs in Santa Fe were at the Festival.
Having moved to Santa Fe from Hawaii in 2001, Cece—a trained oboist who studied at the New England Conservatory and whose career comprises four decades’ worth of development and marketing experience at various organizations, including ABC-TV and multiple non-profits—joined the Festival in 2002 as the Director of External Affairs. The following year, she helped with a critical transition by serving as the organization’s Interim Executive Director. Cece then worked for the homeownership-focused community development financial institution Homewise, where from 2004 to 2016 she was the director of resource development and communications. From 2016 to 2018, she completed the New Mexico School for the Arts’ capital campaign to raise funds for its new building, and later in 2018, she returned to the Festival to begin her current (and now soon-to-be-former) role.
Cece’s time at the Festival has been marked by critical growth in areas that have allowed the organization to flourish, even during the Covid pandemic. She’s overseen increases in contributions made to the Festival’s Annual Fund and permanent Endowment Fund (the latter currently stands at $13.8 million) and in membership to the high-level donor group the Artists’ Circle and the legacy donor group The Mozart Society. She’s increased the range and number of the Festival’s seasonal sponsorships as well as its pre-season Gala offerings and festivities, and, year after year, she’s secured highly impactful challenge grants—all of which has led to increased funding for the Festival’s concerts, music education programs, commissioning projects, national radio broadcasts, and more.
As a colleague, Cece has been an invaluable resource for institutional and industry knowledge, and her dedication has seen her consistently go above and beyond to support her coworkers and, ultimately, the Festival.
Please join us in thanking Cece for her tireless work and in wishing her all the best as she now pursues personal passions like traveling and gardening (and, we hope, relaxing!).
Thank you, Cece. We miss you already!