New director poised for orchestra debut
At age 26 Amanda Boehmer, the new executive director of the Plymouth Philharmonic Orchestra, has packed a lot in.
She took 240 credits in college -- twice the typical course load -- while gaining bachelor's degrees in both music performance and arts management. She worked on intellectual property issues for radio behemoth
Starting her new job just last month -- following the retirement of philharmonic veteran Roberta Otto -- Boehmer finds herself ''entrenched in getting ready for opening night," with the first concert of the orchestra's 90th season on Saturday featuring favorite works by American composers and a newly commissioned piece. Her to-do list includes fund-raising, advertising, promotion and budgeting while overseeing the philharmonic's two part-time office staffers.
A South Shore native, Boehmer grew up in Braintree, played flute, saxophone, and clarinet, and by high school knew what she wanted to do. ''I didn't understand why no one else knew" what their career would be, Boehmer recalled last week. While classmates were lazing through the final weeks of senior year, she was taking introductory courses at Massasoit Community College to get some general education credits out of the way.
What Boehmer first wanted to do was study music performance at a conservatory. Given the long odds of making a career as a performer, her parents urged her to study something more practical. A program at the Hartt School of the University of Hartford in Connecticut allowed her to earn a bachelor's of arts degree in performing arts management with a minor in business, while also obtaining a bachelor's of music degree in clarinet performance.
''I always had this entrepreneurial spirit," Boehmer said. The Hartt School program ''combined everything. It was perfect."
She credits her parents, Richard and Kathleen Boehmer, who live in West Bridgewater, for helping her design and map out a program, and the high academic standards of Braintree High School for preparing her to cope with all the work.
While in Hartford, she gained experience in arts management by managing the Greater Hartford Youth Wind Ensemble, and serving as assistant to the operations manager at the Meadows Music Centre of Hartford. (Think the Tweeter Center, Boehmer said.)
Interested in the music industry's legal questions, Boehmer moved to Los Angeles, where the entertainment industry is king, to study law, and worked for Clear Channel and the MGM legal department. But when her father had a medical problem, she came home and changed her mind about law school.
Though she had studied ''nonprofit" arts management in college in line with her classical music background, the profit side of the entertainment industry has its allure. ''You get tempted. It's glitzy. The CEO of an entertainment company makes a lot more," Boehmer said.
Back East, she worked as operations manager at the Hard Rock Cafe in Boston's Back Bay, which included handling the restaurant's live entertainment. But she grew dissatisfied with restaurant management -- more food than art -- and found the Plymouth Philharmonic's executive director job advertised online.
Since taking the job, she has joined the local Rotary Club and the Plymouth Area Chamber of Commerce, meeting the community leaders who are ''knee-deep in everything," and directed a successful fund-raiser at the Waverly Oaks Golf Club, billed as a gala celebration of the orchestra's 90th year. Her goal as executive director is to expand the orchestra's community contacts, especially in music education.
''If you get them hooked on music while they're young, it will last through high school, when it's not so cool to go to a classical concert," Boehmer said. The Hartt School ''has a wonderful community school that targets early childhood development," she said, and the spillover into the Hartford community leads to more support for music education generally.
Boehmer said she is excited about a new ''instrument immersion" program, which was in the works before her arrival, that is bringing the Plymouth Philharmonic's chamber music into local elementary school classrooms this fall. Students hear music up close and get to ask questions. Some will study instruments, and young string players will have the opportunity to join the orchestra at its April classical concert.
The philharmonic's concert season also involves high school students, with six high school choruses, plus the winner of the South Shore Conservatory of Music's performance competition, scheduled to take part in its February concert.
Conducted by music director Steven Karidoyanes, the philharmonic's concert on Saturday will feature internationally renowned pianist Jeffrey Biegel as guest artist, performing showstoppers by George Gershwin (''Rhapsody in Blue") and Leroy Anderson, as well as the New England premiere of ''Made in America" by American composer Joan Tower. The concert begins at 8 p.m. in Plymouth's Memorial Hall at 83 Court St.
Boehmer said she is also at work promoting a concert of big band music by the Symphony Swing Band, an ensemble made up of Plymouth Philharmonic horn and percussion players. ''A Salute to the Armed Forces" will be performed at 8 p.m. Nov. 12 at PartyLite corporate headquarters, 59 Armstrong Road, in the Plymouth Industrial Park. Tickets are $30 and $40 for cabaret-style seating.
Tickets for Saturday's performance of ''The Phil Celebrates 90!" can be ordered by calling the orchestra's office at 508-746-8008; for more information, go to www.plymouthphilharmonic.com. Robert Knox can be reached at rc.knox@gmail.com. 
