Please pardon my long silence: I’ve been busy writing lately about non-musical matters (like global warming: watch for it in an imminent issue of the City Paper) – but this musical news cries out to be blogged about. It should serve as an auspicious occasion to mark the re-launch of Eargasms as Chucktown’s first-ever year-round online classical music journal.

I’m proud to be the first to locally spill the beans about the Charleston Symphony Orchestra’s next Chief administrative Officer. Just yesterday (Thursday), the CSO front office announced the appointment of Janet Newcomb as the orchestra’s new Executive Director, effective October 1. She currently serves as the Vice President of Development and the Interim President & CEO of the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra. She will bring with her 25 years of experience in founding, developing and leading local arts institutions.

Before her Rochester tenure, Newcomb was Consulting Executive Director for the Metropolitan Arts Council in Greenville, South Carolina, The Executive Director of the Arts Council in Corning, New York, Director of Grants for the South Carolina Arts Commission, and Founding Executive Director of the Arts Council of Beaufort County, South Carolina. She’s also served as Director of Institutional Advancement for the Technical College of the Lowcountry and played several vital roles with the Arts Council in Buffalo, New York. Newcomb’s educational background is in dance, with a BA in Music from Hood College in Frederick, Maryland and a Master’s in Education focused on teaching modern dance from George Washington University in the District of Columbia.

I can’t wait to meet and get to know this dynamic lady that everybody at the CSO is so excited about. She apparently believes very strongly in the CSO’s current quest to expand their community base and attract new listeners. So stay tuned, and I’ll tell you a lot more about her before much longer.