Born and raised in Cranbrook, the new Prince George Symphony Orchestra general manager, Marnie Hamagami, has moved to Prince George with permanence on her mind, she said.
She's looking forward to enjoying the four seasons that she didn't get on Vancouver Island, where she lived most recently.
"It's exciting for me to see my one-year-old son, Keith, discover snow for the first time," said Hamagami, who has two degrees, one in international business from the University of Lethbridge and one in German literature from the University of Tbingen in Germany. "He's just beside himself about the snow."
Hamagami used to work in partisan politics, also a non-profit environment, she said.
"There's a lot of similarities between working on a political campaign and running an orchestra," she said. "You have to be able to speak to the media, you have to know about advertising, marketing and promotion and how to engage with the community in a meaningful way. I feel those were all very transferrable skills. I won't lie, I love politics and I'm sure I will miss it, but the thing about politics is not a lifestyle that is compatible with having a child. It's very demanding. We were looking for a good strong community to raise our son in and I was ready for a new challenge."
Hamagami gently persuaded her partner, Liam Cooper, to move to Prince George to take over the PGSO position from Ruth Langner who left for new ventures after having brought the symphony through some very tough times.
"We came up in November and saw the university and met the board of the symphony, who were lovely and hospitable and took us around the city," said Hamagami. "We met a realtor, who was just amazing and drove us around the city for about three hours one afternoon and really helped orient Liam (who used to live in L.A.) to the whole community. I'm from a small town so this seems like the city to me but it seems a bit smaller to him. So he felt a lot better after that and then a few days later I accepted the position."
They've been here almost two weeks now.
Hamagami is responsible for the administrative side of the symphony.
"I will work in conjunction with the new director of music, Kevin Zakresky, who started in May," said Hamagami, who is a Rotarian and has already visited clubs within the city. "I won't have much input in the artistic side. My job will be more about the administration and marketing and personnel. We do have other staff here so I will be working with them and already everyone is so impressive and they've been so helpful."
