Devoted to Joy

This article is part of our “Play On! – Celebrating New Leaders in Arts & Culture” series of five articles featuring interviews with new executive and managing directors at the helm of beloved arts organizations in Santa Cruz County. All the featured organizations are recipients of 2024 Community Grants. Read the full series.

Header photo: Chanel Enriquez, Managing Director of the Kuumbwa Jazz Center, in front of the venue in downtown Santa Cruz.

The moment Chanel Enriquez stepped into the Kuumbwa Jazz Center for the first time in 2016, she was entranced. She still remembers the show vividly. “It was Banda Magda—this incredible combination of samba, French chansons and Greek folk music sung in multiple languages. I was like, ‘what is this place?!’”

Kuumbwa Jazz, a nonprofit organization, is a 200-seat venue tucked into a courtyard behind the original Bagelry in downtown Santa Cruz. In its nearly 50-year history, there have been countless legendary evenings of music performed by some of the greatest jazz artists in the world, including Wynton Marsalis, Pharoah Sanders, and Esperanza Spalding. It’s a perfect stop between the large venue cities of San Francisco and Los Angeles, especially with Kuumbwa’s innovative scheduling, which stages shows on Mondays and Thursdays, typically an “off” day for musicians.

Chanel learned that Kuumbwa had a dedicated group of volunteers who help run shows and immediately signed up to join the crew—with no luck. “I submitted a volunteer application several times and didn’t get in. Volunteers are absolutely devoted, and some have been there for decades.”

Living a Life Around Music

At the time, Chanel, who graduated from UC Santa Cruz with a degree in business management and economics, was working at the Dream Inn where Kuumbwa Education & Events Coordinator Brian Fitzgerald played gigs once a week. It was the “in” with Brian that helped Chanel land her coveted volunteer position. Her first show as a volunteer was the Miles Electric Band, an all-star ensemble featuring Miles Davis alumni. “I quickly fell in love with being at Kuumbwa once a week,” she says. “I’m not a musician myself but I love music. I live my life around music. And through Kuumbwa, I’ve really grown into and learned more about jazz music, the culture, and the history.”

As soon as there was a staff opening, Chanel applied and in May 2019, she was hired by then Executive Director Bobbi Todaro and Artistic Director and Co-Founder Tim Jackson, as the development and systems coordinator. Chanel worked closely with Bobbi during the pandemic on securing all the COVID relief grants and loans possible and then worked with the team to pivot their operations to virtual content. She’s incredibly proud of their Mondays at the Kuumbwa video series: “We had 65 episodes all online, all for free, until we were able to reopen to the public in September of 2021.”

Centering Music Education

In late 2021, Bobbi and Tim approached Chanel with the offer of the managing director position as Bobbi readied for retirement at the end of 2022. In addition to overseeing a smooth leadership transition, Chanel and the team are now hard at work re-envisioning and redeveloping their Artists in the Schools program, which is part of their larger education initiative which includes the honors band, jazz camp, and master classes.

Chanel says, “For years, and post-pandemic especially, school music programs are facing cutbacks or have been eliminated. Music education is vitally important in helping students realize their potential as creative thinkers. We are getting input from artists and teachers to develop a program to meet the unique needs of students in this moment.”

Working alongside Tim, Chanel sees herself as a steward of Kuumbwa’s legacy. “I’m so honored that it’s my job to help continue all that Tim and Bobbi have built over the years—this incredible cultural institution in our community that brings so much musical innovation, joy, and healing.”