Imelda Tecson Juarez’s career includes a long list of achievements. 

She played viola in the national tour of Hamilton, for an NPR Tiny Desk concert and even in a television commercial for the ESPN NFL draft. She currently serves as the Marketing and Patron Loyalty Manager at Strathmore in the Washington, D.C., metro area.

“And technically,” Imelda shared at the 2025 Tessitura Learning & Community Conference in Anaheim, “I shouldn’t be here.” 

Imelda grew up attending Houston’s public schools, where she first fell in love with music. Her early lessons set her on a journey of continuous learning and artistic growth. Anyone who watched Imelda perform would think she was living her dream. Yet, she felt something amiss. 

“All along the way, I never felt like I belonged there,” Imelda said. “Regardless of how hard I worked, I was never really accepted into the fold and was often othered as an anomaly, a late starter or as defying the odds.”  

While touring with Hamilton, a new desire struck Imelda. “I wanted to connect more people to the arts so they could see themselves reflected in [the field], too,” she said.  

That inspired a career shift to arts administration. But it came with obstacles. “I had been working for 20 years,” she explained. “But with only performance degrees, I wasn’t technically qualified to do anything but play. 

“I wanted to connect more people to the arts so they could see themselves reflected in it, too.”

Imelda pursued opportunities that could take her to the next level, including Tessitura’s Career Accelerator program. With Tessitura training under her belt, Imelda launched a new chapter at Strathmore. She found herself connecting with a community that shared her passion for growing arts access. 

Despite a challenging landscape of program cuts, Imelda stands steadfast in her mission.  

“It’s now on me to carry that torch, and it’s now on me to use the arts to foster that community,” Imelda explained. “And I won’t stop working until we all feel like we belong here, too.”

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Imelda Tecson Juarez presented this talk as part of Tessitura’s Innovator Series at the Tessitura Learning & Community Conference in Anaheim, California, in August 2025.