Executive Director, New Philharmonia Orchestra and Managing Director, Newton Cultural Alliance
Adrienne Hartzell Knudsen has been promoting and managing the performing arts scene in Newton since 1995, when she became Executive Director of the New Philharmonia Orchestra. But her active involvement really began in the mid 1980s when her husband, Ronald Knudsen, was Music Director of the now-defunct Newton Symphony Orchestra and section violinist with the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Committed to bringing music to a broad community base, Ron pushed hard to have the Newton Symphony Board build a wider, more diverse audience. They dismissed him, and most of the players followed, forming the New Philharmonia Orchestra. Adrienne became Executive Manager, overseeing schedules, tickets, communications — everything involved in sustaining the performers and performances. “It was huge effort,” she said.
Adrienne’s interest in music began in Fremont, California, where she spent her childhood. Her father was the first radiologist at their local hospital and a talented pianist. Her parents took her to concerts in nearby San Francisco, where she heard Ella Fitzgerald and Pablo Casals. At ten, Adrienne began studying the cello at Berkeley and Palo Alto, where her mother would drive her twice weekly since there was no public transportation. Having skipped a year in school, she began Willamette College in Salem, Oregon, a year earlier than most students. Willamette had a reasonable music department, but by her second year, she realized she needed a more sophisticated, comprehensive music curriculum and in 1967, she transferred to the New England Conservatory, where she completed both her BA and MA. In the early 1970s she met Ronald Knudsen, introduced by a fellow chamber music friend. “Boston was a real eye-opener,” for Adrienne, who encountered both tremendous highs from a community of great music as well as a tense, often explosive, racial environment.
Armed with degrees in music and playing as a freelancer with a variety of ensembles, Adrienne also worked in several offices at the New England Conservatory because “there weren’t many [musical] jobs around.” In time, she joined the music faculties at Wellesley College and All Newton Music School. Having moved to Newton in 1980, Adrienne, who came from a family of lawyers, decided to expand her education, beginning in 1988, by going to Suffolk University Law School. Adrienne’s uncle, Pete McCloskey — a California attorney and Congressman who defeated Shirley Temple Black, “was an influence on me and my family.” Her law degree proved really useful in her future joint managerial careers.
In 2009, the Newton Cultural Alliance (NCA) incorporated to support the wealth of arts organizations in Newton. Among the greatest challenges for Newton arts organizations without real estate was finding space for offices, rehearsals, and performances. Sachiko Isihara, Director of the Suzuki School and a Newton Cultural Alliance board member, was driving by the Allen House when she saw a “for sale” sign there and alerted the NCA. Fortunately, the 19th century building — former home of the Allen family and later a school — was reasonably priced. Adrienne’s legal skills proved useful in interpreting the legalities of the sale. The space was always deemed to speak to the “collaborative facilities” part of the NCA’s mission. Adrienne became NCA’s Executive Director in 2012.
According to Adrienne, an ongoing challenge for the New Philharmonia and other performing groups is the lack of public performance space in Newton and a lack of cooperation with the city’s school department and arts groups. Most performance groups depend on using school or church space, which was not available during the pandemic. Because of limits on gathering size, testing, vaccination requirements, and mask-wearing regulations, it was impossible to find rental space either in churches or schools. As of the spring of 2021, once The Allen Center was complete, this space was able to serve a variety of organizations, although even now, post-pandemic, Adrienne says, it can be a real problem. She laments the lack of private-public partnerships with the city. Among the sites the NCA and New Philharmonia and other performance groups favor is the beautiful historic First Baptist Church in Newton Center — close to the T-stop, buses, public parking lots, and many restaurants. But that church tower is in serious need of repair, so the building is not able to be used at this time. Adrienne noted, “To date, the city has not been interested in working with the arts community to help bring this substantial historic space in the heart of the city to life.”
This fall, NCA and the New Philharmonia have begun to “see the light,” with an end to COVID restrictions, although space continues to be a problem. Adrienne’s dual managerial roles often lead to eighteen-hour days. “I’m worn out a lot of the time,” she admits. She is looking for assistance from someone with experience in the arts, who has both time and vision. What unites both the New Philharmonia and the Newton Cultural Alliance is the belief — stemming from the early 1980s working with her husband Ron — that enriching the community by bringing people together with and through the arts is “the most meaningful way we can give back.” “It’s all about bringing people together through the arts. That’s what it’s all about.”
