Amelia Island Chamber Music Festival Selects Robyn Lamp as its New Executive Director

AMELIA ISLAND, Fla. – Oct. 1, 2024 – Amelia Island Chamber Music Festival’s Board of Directors named Robyn Lamp the festival’s new executive director. The festival is one of the nation's most prestigious chamber music series, known for its first-class performances and music education programs.

“After an extensive search, we are most pleased to welcome Robyn Lamp as our executive director,” Board President Emma Mills Bledsoe said. “Her knowledge, experience and pursuit of excellence in bringing music to our community, and now to our organization, will ensure that we continue to be an integral part of the cultural fabric of the Southeast.”

Board members said Lamp’s experience as an arts administrator and classical musician, combined with her passion for promoting classical music in her community, will help advance the festival's mission.

Lamp will begin her new position in time to oversee the 24th season, including performances by Mark and Maggie O’Connor, pianist Jeremy Denk, the Takács Quartet, classical guitarist Sharon Isbin, and others.

“We are thrilled that Robyn is joining our team to present the best musicians in the world on Amelia Island at the festival,” Artistic Director William Ransom said. “With her extensive and administrative background, we are poised for a great future ahead.”

Lamp is currently IlluminArts’ company manager in Miami. In 2021, she co-founded Amelia Island Opera and serves as secretary of its Board of Directors.

When Lamp assumes her new role on Oct. 21, she will manage day-to-day operations and work alongside the Board to lead fundraising, marketing and community engagement efforts.

“Before I made Amelia Island my home in 2020, I would attend Amelia Island Chamber Music Festival concerts as a visitor,” Lamp said. “I was always excited and impressed by the high-quality programming presented by Amelia Island Chamber Music Festival. I am truly humbled to have been entrusted with the responsibility of advancing the mission of this great organization.”

Lamp is a classically trained opera singer with a master’s degree in music from Louisiana State University. Highlights of her freelance opera and choral career include singing as the soprano soloist in Verdi’s Requiem at Carnegie Hall and Mechanics Hall, an ensemble member of Grammy Award-nominated Seraphic Fire, the title role in Puccini’s Tosca with the Naples Philharmonic and Adele in Bellini’s rarely heard Il Pirata with the Orchestra of St. Luke's at Caramoor Summer Music Festival.

The Amelia Island Chamber Music Festival was founded in 2001 by Christopher Rex, a vacationer on Amelia Island and principal cellist of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. Now entering its 24th season, the festival has developed into one of the nation's most prestigious events of its kind. Grants from the Florida Division of Cultural Affairs, Community Foundation for Northeast Florida and National Endowment for the Arts help support the festival, along with generous contributions from sponsors, donors and dedicated volunteers. 

Music education for concert audiences, students and aspiring young musicians has been a core mission of the festival since its founding. In addition to the Beth Newdome Fellowship and master classes, the organization launched two new education programs in 2019: the Christopher Rex Spring Institute and the String Education Program. 

The array of internationally acclaimed artists who have headlined the festival includes Yo-Yo Ma, Itzhak Perlman, Hilary Hahn, Pinchas Zukerman, Joshua Bell, Chick Corea, Béla Fleck, Chris Thile, Emanuel Ax, Valentina Lisitsa and Wynton Marsalis. Previous star-studded headliners also include Grammy Award-winning violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter, bluegrass singer Ricky Skaggs, and soprano Renée Fleming. The acclaimed Dover Quartet was named the organization’s first quartet-in-residence. The festival has enjoyed a glorious past, and its future is even more exciting.