Huntsville is steadily positioning itself as a premier music city in the Southeast, and an upcoming meeting will give residents an opportunity to meet some of those setting the tempo.
The Huntsville Music Board and City Music Officer Matt Mandrella will host the inaugural HSV Quarterly Music Meetup on Thursday, March 3, at Mars Music Hall at 700 Monroe St. SW, Huntsville. The free social event will run from 5:30-7:30 p.m.
The meetup will be a public event for the nine-member Music Board, which has met in-person only a handful of times since the COVID-19 pandemic began. It will also be the first public event for Mandrella, whom Mayor Tommy Battle appointed in January after a nationwide search.
“It’s exciting to have the opportunity to engage with the public after nearly two years of social distancing and lockdowns, which proved challenging for our music community,” Mayor Battle said. “The Music Board has done a lot of planning behind the scenes, and with our new Music Officer on board, I feel confident they’ll work well together to strike the right chord.”
Making connections
Mandrella has spent the last several weeks meeting with board members individually, as well as key stakeholders in the community. Those include representatives with the Huntsville-Madison County Convention & Visitor’s Bureau and Orion Amphitheater as well as local business owners, musicians and event organizers. He’s optimistic about Huntsville’s music future and predicts he and the Music Board will be able to build on the buzz being created.
“This will be my first opportunity to meet with members of the public and get their feedback on Huntsville’s music scene and what they want to see,” Mandrella said. “I hope we have a lot of interest in the event, and I look forward to hearing everyone’s thoughts.”
Music Board Chairman Mark Torstenson shares Mandrella’s enthusiasm and is excited to educate the public about the board’s role in shaping Huntsville’s musical future.
Music Board history
In 2019, a wide-ranging music audit conducted by Sound Diplomacy recommended the City establish a Music Board and hire a full-time Music Officer. Mayor Battle appointed the first Music Board members in January 2020, just prior to the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Torstenson said the board’s mission is straightforward: Cultivate Huntsville’s diverse, vibrant and freely expressive music ecosystem to create opportunities and connections within our community and advocate for the performing arts, venues and industry professionals.
“Since our creation, the Music Board has created strategies and worked toward crafting policies with those goals in mind,” he said. “We look forward to sharing those with the public and seeing them come to fruition.”
Visit our website to learn more about Mandrella and the Music Board. Can’t attend the meeting but would like to share feedback about Huntsville’s music scene? Click here to complete an online form.
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