“After three months as serving as the interim president and CEO of the Grand Rapids Symphony, Peter M. Perez is losing ‘interim’ from his title,” writes Shandra Martinez in Tuesday’s (3/21) Grand Rapids Press (Michigan). “The West Michigan businessman has been appointed to the position permanently…. In January, Perez was named interim president and chief executive officer” following the departure of Peter Kjome, who, “left the Grand Rapids Symphony on Feb. 1 to helm the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. Though a search committee had begun to organize a national search for the orchestra’s next administrative leader, the committee soon determined the best person for the job already was on the job…. Formerly president of two world-famous musical instrument manufacturers, C.G. Conn, and Steinway & Sons, Perez and his wife, Carroll, came to Grand Rapids in 1990 when they became owners of Carter Products, a family-owned business producing accessory equipment for the industrial woodworking machinery industry…. A native of Elkhart, Ind., and a graduate of Yale University, Perez is a retired U.S. Navy officer and earned his MBA from Indiana University…. Said Kate Pew Wolters, who succeeded Perez as Board Chairperson in 2015, ‘As a fundraiser, Peter is the best.’ ”
Posted March 22, 2017
