Symphony Staff

Jan Derecho, Executive Director
Jan has been involved in the Santa Cruz arts community for many years serving on the Symphony board as a director for nine years, and then was the Symphony’s Executive Director from 1994 to 2001. Jan had an extensive career in the financial industry, working in commercial lending and bank management for both regional and community banks. Jan’s other contributions to the arts community include serving on the board of Shakespeare Santa Cruz and the Association of California Symphony Orchestras (ACSO). She sings regularly with the Cabrillo Symphonic Chorus and is an active member of the Santa Cruz Rotary Club.

Benjamin Short, Marketing Manager
Benjamin Short has worked for the Symphony since 2006. In his current position as Marketing Manager, he oversees sales and publicity campaigns, production of Symphony materials, maintains the Symphony’s online presence and helps maintain the Symphony’s positive image in the community. Benjamin is a UCSC graduate and an amateur musician.

Lindsay Goldberg, Office Coordinator
Lindsay Goldberg has been the Office Coordinator and Youth Program Coordinator for the Symphony since September 2011. She attended University of California, Santa Cruz, and graduated with honors in Enviromental Studies and has an extensive knowledge of horticulture.

Norman Peck, Personnel Manager
Norman has been the Principal Percussionist and Personnel Manager with the Santa Cruz County Symphony since 1990, and also holds the Principal Percussion Chair in the Lamplighters and West Bay Opera. He plays jazz with a big band every Tuesday night when he isn’t working, teaches a large class of private students, and provides instrumental music contracting services to a variety of clients. When he’s not working, Norman is passionately fond of science fiction, cooking and his cats Hector and Alex. In January 2011, he and his wife Lynda celebrated their 29th Anniversary.

Sue Laughlin, Librarian
Sue is a 35-year resident of Santa Cruz. She loves our close knit community and the beautiful coastal environments. She’s an outdoors person and enjoys hiking our local trails. While lap swimming is her latest passion, Sue’s love of classical music has been lifelong. The Librarian job is all about putting music on stands -- a simple goal but a complicated process. It helps to be a perfectionist.

Rick Larsen, Production Manager
Rick first worked for the Santa Cruz County Symphony when he was a member of Theater Staff at the Cabrillo College Theater in 1980; in 1983 he was hired as the orchestra's Stage Manager and in 1985 was promoted to the position of Production Manager. Rick has had a wide and varied career doing technical production and design for a variety of clients in Music, Film, Corporate Video and Theater for clients including the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music, the Monterey Symphony, El Teatro Campesino, the Santa Cruz Blues Festival, Malpaso Film Productions, Warner Brothers Films, Universal Pictures, ABC, CBS and NBC Television, eBay, HP and Apple. Rick and his wife Ellen split their time between their home in Santa Cruz and their Cabin on the edge of the Grand Staircase / Escalante National Monument in Boulder, Utah.

Eileen Flynn, Stage Manager
Eileen Flynn has been Stage Manager for the Santa Cruz County Symphony for the past 12 seasons. She has worked professionally on theatrical, musical and film productions for twenty three years in a variety of fields including audio, lighting, a/v and as a scenic artist. She received her bachelor's degree in Fine Arts from UCSC and studied for a semester at Chicago's Art Institute. Eileen continues to create art in her spare time specializing in ceramic
sculpture.