VOICES welcomes new Executive Director MinTze Wu

VOICES, a local nonprofit arts organization whose mission is to amplify often-silenced voices in the Roaring Fork Valley through the arts, welcomes MinTze Wu as new executive director.

“MinTze is an incredible artist with a genuine love for art and craftsmanship, but she is also a professional who is passionate about making things happen,” VOICES’ board President Iliana Rentería said. “I look forward to watching her bloom into this new role and the fantastic, positive impact her leadership will have on VOICES.” 

Wu, a Carbondale resident since 2018, is a violinist and nonprofit arts leader. She is the founder of the Sounds of Lyons Music Festival and BenFeng Music Productions, where she has served as producer and artistic director to several signature productions including Death of the Pugilist, Beneath, Kreutzer, Xu Zhimo & His Transfigured Night, and the latest being a revolutionary production of Benjamin Britten’s Opera The Turn of the Screw in the fall of 2022.

Her artistic involvement with the Roaring Fork Valley includes concertmaster of Aspen Choral Society, curator of Garden Music Series, collaborator with Dance Initiatives & DanceAspen, and ensemble artist in VOICES’ recent Women’s Voices Theater Project Wetlands and last summer’s tiny, mobile theater The ARTery.

Through the participation of various projects with VOICES, organization officials said, Wu has garnered an in-depth understanding of VOICES’ work in the community.

She recalled her introduction to VOICES as “one with openness, curiosity and honesty. It is a safe space held and nurtured to seek and speak our truths.” She said she is looking forward to the work of deepening relationships with the community through the new and existing VOICES projects, and valuing diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility as the pillars of VOICES’ work.

“This transition marks a pivotal moment in VOICES’ growth,” said Founding Executive Director Renee Prince. “We have a dynamic and diverse team that is deeply committed to empowering marginalized voices in our valley, and I am thrilled to see what they will accomplish next with MinTze’s vision and expertise at the helm.”

VOICES has been producing community-based arts projects in local schools and on performing platforms throughout the valley since its founding in 2016 by Prince and local philanthropist and poet Barbara Reese. The legacy includes the Youth Voices Project, Women’s Voices Project and Voices of Latin America, among many others.

Prince plans to step away from VOICES Nov. 1, at which point Wu will take the lead. To learn more, visit voicesrfv.org or attend their upcoming Queer Voices Theater Project at TACAW Oct. 23-25.