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In December 2025, the College of Music kicked off a series highlighting our incredible staff and their musical talents. The vast majority of our staff have a music degree(s) or musical background of some kind, adding to their passion for the college’s mission. In this edition, meet Assistant Dean for Strategic Initiatives Kate Cimino, Director of Macky Auditorium + CU Boulder Artist Series Rudy Betancourt and Senior Graduate Studies Coordinator Chris Martin.

Cimino joined her dad’s community band on bassoon for one of their concerts (2017).

For months, a whole wall of Assistant Dean for Strategic Initiatives��Kate Cimino’s office was covered in rainbow-colored sticky notes. The notes were a physical representation of hopes and dreams for the college, as shared by faculty and staff at the college’s most recent annual all-hands retreat. Cimino sees her job as helping those dreams come to life.����

“The way I would define my role is I’m helping us make sure that everyone in the building is on the same road, going in the same direction together. And that we are coordinating as best we can with the rest of campus,” she says.

Cimino has also been around music for as long as she can remember, both as an audience member and a participant—starting with piano and flute before moving on to the bassoon which became her main instrument.

“One of my earliest memories is my dad performing with his dance band/polka band at picnics, outdoor festivals and other events when I was tiny. That band was a big part of his life and our family’s life,” she says.

While Cimino hasn’t regularly performed since pre-pandemic, she’s actively seeking ways to reincorporate music into her life. This fall, she accepted an invitation to play on Professor of Flute Christina Jennings’ “Always a Flutist” recital, picking up the flute for the first time since 1995.��

“You get to this point in your life where you’re like—am I willing to say I’m probably not going to ever do that thing again? Or, I’m not willing to put in the effort to do that thing again? And I thought, I’m not done with that. I need to get back to that,” she shares.��

“So I have this little spark of motivation to get out the bassoon, start working on it again and figure something out. I’d love to play in an orchestra, but chamber music is great too. We’ll see.”

Betancourt working in his studio during a remote collab with musicians in Venezuela.��
Photo: Rebecca Betancourt

Rudy Betancourt started playing classical guitar when he was 12 years old in Venezuela and fell in love with the instrument. He earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in music performance and performed as much as he could. He planned to continue with a professional music career until a slip on the ice ended with a dislocated elbow and he had to look for other options.

“I took everything I learned on the margins, working in the administration of the Colorado Symphony and Swallow Hill, a folk music nonprofit in Denver—and discovered skills and talents that I didn’t think I had,” Betancourt says. “Those two jobs gave me the skills to run Macky which I’m so grateful got in my path and where I’m able to continue working in the performing arts, being creative.”

Today, Betancourt directs Macky Auditorium and the CU Boulder Artist Series. He’s been working at Macky for 15 years and compares working with his team to working with a chamber group or jazz ensemble.

“We have to leave our egos at the door and be very clear what our mission and objectives are,” he explains. “We have agreement—or a very good idea—where we want to be, where we want to go and what the end result is ... and we work together on that.”��

Betancourt sees his work as a way to keep our community connected to one another: “At a time when business and everything seems so transactional, the performing arts remind us of our humanity and our deeper meaning as human beings. The arts keep us motivated and remind us what our mission is beyond Excel files, budgets, infrastructure and everything else.”

Martin and other CU Boulder-affiliated band members in the college’s production of “Postcard from Morocco” under Opera Music Director Nicholas Carthy’s baton (April 2022).

When asked to describe his job, Senior Graduate Studies Coordinator��Chris Martin put it succinctly: “I make sure students graduate on time, as inexpensively as possible.”

Martin's College of Music career began in the opera department and he's been in his current role for eight years. He’s also a percussionist who frequently works with local groups like the Greeley Philharmonic, Boulder Philharmonic and Boulder Chamber Orchestra—along with teaching private lessons.

Martin further lends his musical talents to the college by playing a variety of percussion instruments in the pit orchestra for numerous productions including “Postcard from Morocco” (pictured), “Cabaret” last fall and “,” upcoming.��

His music background includes a Bachelor of Music from Indiana �Թ��� and a Master of Music from the Manhattan School of Music. While completing his education, Martin says he discovered he wanted something with more stability and a predictable schedule.��

“When I got to grad school, I started to find more of a connection to teaching and education, so I thought I wanted to be a teacher,” he says. “I also got into production in New York and found that really interesting ... which led me to arts administration.��

“That steered me to a ‘desk job’-type career and having a family.”

Martin works with every graduate student in the College of Music at some point in their studies; his favorite part of the job is meeting people from all over the world.

“Learning about what inspires them, why they're here and how they can be part of our community; and helping our students connect with other people—not just in the College of Music, but campuswide—and finding ways to invent new avenues for them,” he says. “It’s all student-driven.”

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The musical talents of College of Music staff members, Part I

Learn about the College of Music’s universal musician approach