DERKSEN IS PHILLY BOUND
Executive director of RSO lands dream position
WINKLER, MAN. The Regina Symphony Orchestra’s executive director Tanya Derksen will be filling a prominent role on the leadership team of the Philadelphia Orchestra.
Derksen accepted the position of vice-president of artistic production with the orchestra, known as one of the “big five” in the U.S., ranked for their history and calibre. Philadelphia Orchestra, founded in 1900, joins New York, Boston, Chicago and Cleveland in the big five.
As vice-president of artistic production, she will oversee personnel, production, operations, and touring, with an eye toward strategizing and executing creative deployment of the orchestra.
Derksen said being chosen for the position is an honour.
“I guess it feels a little bit like an acknowledgment of a lot of the work I’ve been doing here in Canada with the Regina Symphony and Winnipeg Symphony,” she said.
During her five years at the helm of the Regina Symphony Orchestra, Derksen has overseen operations and production, touring, artistic and educational programming, community partnerships, financial management, and more, working closely with the music director, musicians of the Orchestra, and staff.
She led the organization through a significant period of growth, launching the Forward Currents Festival focused on social issues, establishing new education programs, transforming marketing strategies, and securing the organization’s largest individual gift of $1 million.
“I’m excited to go obviously, but that’s going to be hard to leave here as well,” she said.
Derksen said she’s looking forward to working with a larger organization. The Regina Symphony has an annual budget of about $2.5 million, while the Philadelphia Symphony is close to $50 million.
“I have an amazing team here in Regina, but we’re pretty small relatively speaking, and so to be in a place where I’ve got people who know just as much about this industry, who are experts in this industry, and have those people as my peers inside the same organization again ... that’s really exciting,” she said.
RSO board chair Judy Mccuskee said while they will miss Derksen greatly, they are excited that her experience with the RSO over the last five years helped her earn a position with such a preeminent orchestra.
“We know the Philadelphia Orchestra will benefit from her expertise and experience,” Mccuskee said in a news release.
Derksen previously served as director of education and outreach for the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra and held roles with Manitoba Music and the Ruth Cansfield Dance Company.
An accomplished pianist, she has performed internationally with choirs and soloists, taught private lessons, and served as a piano adjudicator for community music festivals. Derksen received her bachelor of music degree from Brandon University and her MBA from the Asper School of Business at the University of Manitoba.
She is the president of Orchestras Canada, the national association for Canadian orchestras, and has served in leadership roles with the Sistema Canada Steering Committee, the Manitoba Conservatory of Music and Arts, the Future Leaders of Manitoba, and the 2015 National Conference for Music Educators in Canada.
WHERE IT ALL STARTED
Her love of music began in her Winkler, Man. home. Her parents, Ernest and Irene Peters, allowed her to explore her interests, getting her started on the piano.
“I have very faint memories of her teaching me piano. I was five at the time,” Derksen said. “According to my mother I took to it really quickly and it was a matter of months before she realized that she couldn’t teach me anymore and so got me connected to a piano teacher.”
Derksen said although she stayed in piano lessons all through school, it wasn’t something she thought was noteworthy.
“I always loved it. It was always just a thing I did,” she said. “I never remember thinking I didn’t want to do it.”
In high school her career path became clear.
“I just remember thinking I want to wake up every morning and look forward to doing what I love and when I sat down to think about what that meant, it just came down to music, specifically classical music,” she said.
Derksen said she was allowed to take her own road.
“The people that have a lot to do with it are — and this is going to sound a little cliché, but I absolutely mean it from the bottom of my heart — are my parents,” she said. “They always just left space for me to kind of explore what I wanted to explore, and follow my passions and think about what I wanted to in life.”
She also credits piano teacher Heather Laliberte.
“She was really the piano teacher that shifted my thinking from (piano) being something I just liked to do on the side, to something that could be a really important part of my life and a professional part of my life,” she said.
A trip to Toronto one summer solidified her passion for music. On a walk through the Royal Conservatory grounds, Derksen could hear the sounds of practice coming from open windows.
“I was just walking outside and just feeling this sense of ‘these are my people,’” she said.
While music is a career, it’s also much more than that for Derksen.
“For me, music is my place to belong,” she said. “It’s where my people are. It’s the place that makes me feel the most like me.”
Growing up in a tight knit community has also made an impression, and has driven her to seek that community everywhere.
“I learned at a very young age and it’s still something I take into my career and life with me,” she said.
The Philadelphia Orchestra is also excited to welcome Derksen.
“Tanya is a passionate and dynamic arts leader who brings a wealth of experience and knowledge to this important role within the orchestra,” said Philadelphia Orchestra president and CEO Matías Tarnopolsky in a news release.
“Under her guidance, we will enhance our presentation of the Orchestra at home in Philadelphia, across the country, and around the world. We are delighted to welcome Tanya to the Philadelphia Orchestra family.”