Postcard from SFGC Executive Director Seth Ducey

In SFGC’s Postcard series, our guest artists, collaborators, and faculty take us behind the scenes and share an intimate look into their thoughts about music, life, and art-making.

This postcard features Seth Ducey, SFGC's Executive Director, as he introduces himself to the SFGC community!

A graduate of Lawrence University in Wisconsin, Seth Ducey joins the San Francisco Girls Chorus after a successful five-year tenure as Executive Director of the Golden State Youth Orchestra (GSYO) in Palo Alto. At GSYO, he achieved notable growth in student enrollment, developed new community initiatives, and led successful fundraising campaigns. His leadership also included navigating the organization through the pandemic and introducing its first Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion program, which supports underrepresented Silicon Valley schools. Ducey also led GSYO on three international tours.

From 2017 to 2019, Ducey served as Director of Operations and Education at the Oakland Symphony, where he worked closely with the late Michael Morgan, who led the Symphony as the music director for 30 years. His earlier experience includes a 17-year tenure at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, where he managed concert operations and worked with both collegiate and pre-college students.

A passionate advocate for music education, Ducey was recently appointed to the Board of Directors of Living Jazz in Oakland and previously served on the Oakland Youth Orchestra Board of Directors. He also participated in the 2011 Essentials of Orchestra Management training by the League of American Orchestras.

In his spare time, Ducey enjoys running, cooking, traveling, and following his favorite sports teams. 

Seth Ducey, Executive Director

What is your relationship to music?
I would describe my relationship to music as lifelong and never-ending. My parents tell me I would lie down on the living room floor at a very young age and hold my ear next to the speaker. I sang a great deal at that age and arbitrarily picked the trumpet in the 4th grade. I have played it ever since. Music is like a companion who is with you all the time. I surround myself with music 24/7. It has brought me endless joy as a performer and professional.  

Why do you love working with families and young people?
Across my career, I love the dynamic of the family and music. The endless support parents provide to their children in their musical studies, the pride they feel when their children perform, the joy the child’s performance brings to their family, and the smile I see from the child to the parent and the parent to the child at a performance. To me, there is nothing better than this.   

Tell us more about your work in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. Why is this work so important to you?
I am proud of initiating the first DEI effort at my last place of work, and, while small in scope, we felt this was meaningful and important work. DEI initiatives take time to develop and implement and every child deserves access to music education. This is important to me and all of us at SFGC. Alongside our faculty and staff, I plan to explore ways of bringing chorus education to underrepresented children. Efforts like these should never stop and must continue in all organizations.  

What are you most proud of in your work?
In my career in music and music education, the common theme is supporting musicians of all ages and abilities and giving them tools to develop and grow as musicians. This principle is at the heart of what I do professionally. I am proud of having helped thousands of students and adults develop an appreciation of music.  

You've spent your career working in music education, managing hundreds of students in multiple orchestras. What has that taught you about how music impacts young people’s lives?
It is challenging to be a kid in general, and especially with this current generation of young people. I hope that music education can be an outlet for young musicians. Will they love every minute of rehearsals and adore practicing? We know the answer is no! However, for most, music education and developing a passion for music is much more rewarding than an exam in school. Many of the skills we learn as musicians apply to other parts of our lives. The power of music, learning music, and excelling in music can and does transform these young lives. 

What are you most excited for this season? Why?
I look forward to meeting and interacting with every student and parent over the course of this season, my first with SFGC. I loved hearing the Premier Ensemble at the Season Launch and at the Hardy Strictly Bluegrass Festival. I can’t wait to hear so many more concerts and music collaborations with the Bay Area’s leading performance organizations. I look forward to being part of the SFGC family, which has made me feel very welcome!  

How would you describe the musical culture of the Bay Area? What makes it stand out?
Music here is representative of the Bay Area itself:  beautiful, interesting, culturally diverse, and unusual in many ways.  You can find any genre of music where we live and that makes music stand out in our area.

What are your two favorite albums? What draws you to them?
Chet Baker’s “Blood, Chet, and Tears”:  I was heavily influenced by this album as a young trumpet player and he illustrates singing through an instrument. 
London Symphony “Copland conducts Copland” (1970):  Superb recording of my favorite orchestral work.  

If you could give a TED Talk about anything, what topic would you pick?
I would lead a broad discussion on how kids and parents can weigh selecting colleges and subsequent career paths as musicians, how to balance the desire to continue singing and pursuing music professionally as a young adult with working a non-musical job, and how best to stay engaged in music meaningfully after high school or college while paying the bills. It can be tricky but very possible and very rewarding!

What inspires you about SFGC?
In addition to the very passionate professionals and seasoned music educators at SFGC, I am inspired by the quality of our young singers, the incredible level of training they receive, the access they have to the leading music organizations in the Bay Area, and the adventuresome and varied repertoire they perform. 

What advice can you give to our singers that you wish you had received when you were their age?
You are here at SFGC to pursue and develop your own relationship to music and this is the most important thing I hope you accomplish while at SFGC. Use your time in SFGC to sing to the best of your ability and grow as an artist. Practice!  Perform as much as possible. Don’t worry about failure. Make memories and some of the friendships you’ll develop at SFGC will last a lifetime.