Before she moved to San Diego in 2011, soprano Katie Hickey contacted Ruben Valenzuela of Bach Collegium San Diego for an audition. It only took a few weeks before she was singing professionally with the troupe.
On Hickey’s journey to becoming Bach Collegium San Diego’s Executive Director in 2021, she co-founded three choral groups and consulted several local nonprofits in chorus and orchestra management and marketing. And she continued to sing.
“I’ll be singing with Bach Collegium at our next concert in March,” said Hickey, whose executive director position is full time. “But my times singing with the group are fewer and far between.”
A California resident for the first two weeks of her life, Hickey was raised in northern Virginia, close to Washington, D.C. There she joined choirs that performed all over D.C. and the world.
But Hickey, who has a master’s in arts administration and cultural policy from Goldsmiths College at the University of London, has melded her love of music with her administrative skills.
“I have the best of both worlds in my parents,” she said, speaking from her home office in La Mesa. “My mom was a church choir director and teacher, and my dad was a defense contractor in Washington. I’ve got both the right and left brains for the musical and business sides in me.”
Formerly a professional singer, Bach Collegium San Diego Executive Director Katie Hickey said running the organization allows her to use both the artistic and analytical sides of her brain. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / The San Diego Union-Tribune)
During Hickey’s first few years in San Diego, she sang with Bach Collegium, SACRA/PROFANA and Village Community Chorale, among other groups.
She cofounded the San Diego Summer Choral Festival, San Diego Pro Arte Voices and The FF Collective. She also was a founding board member of the Choral Consortium of San Diego.
Organizations where she either worked or did administrative consulting include La Jolla Athenaeum Music and Library, San Diego Music Chorale and Camarada.
The non-singing part of Hickey’s relationship with Bach Collegium began a little before the pandemic shutdown. The executive director at the time needed extra help; Hickey became associate director of events and engagement.
“Katie came on board and gave everything a boost,” artistic director Valenzuela recalled. “During COVID, her leadership really blossomed. We had to pivot in so many ways – like other organizations – and Katie made it relatively easy. She kept things positive when they could have gone sideways.
“Katie has an easy-going spirit. Even under pressure, she seems pretty darn calm.”
Shortly after starting the job, Hickey proposed a commercial recording project. She oversaw the four-year process and secured a record label. The album “A Sonic Youth” was released in 2025.
“She was our logistics and budget mastermind,” Valenzuela said. “And during COVID, that was a feat!”
Bach Collegium’s groundbreaking “El Mesías: Handel’s Messiah for a New World” was planned before Hickey’s employment. But as executive director, she supervised the binational premiere here and in Tijuana in 2023, the bicentennial year of U.S./Mexico relations. She also oversaw the publication of the score, which is available online. The “El Mesias” recording project is ongoing.
Hickey was also involved when Bach Collegium last year became one of four groups named as a resident company by La Jolla Music Society. The three-year residency provides scheduling advantages, more visibility and a discounted rate to perform at the society’s state-of-the-art concert hall, among other benefits.
While Bach Collegium has toured in Mexico and South America over the years, its first trip to Europe was in 2024 to perform at the prestigious Leipzig Bach Festival in Germany. Bach Collegium has been invited back for its 2027 edition.
“It was a gargantuan effort to get an ensemble scattered all over the country to a festival in Germany,” Valenzuela said. “She was also shepherding donors on the trip.”
“I actually enjoy the logistics of travel and touring,” Hickey said. “It’s a fun part of my job. I’m looking forward to doing it again, even though new visa requirements have come out this year. Our musicians come from all over the country. I’m planning a patron tour again.”
Hickey works mostly from her home in La Mesa. She and her husband, Mike Mejia, have a 10-year-old daughter and are expecting a baby boy in July.
During her tenure, Bach Collegium received its first-ever bequest.
Approaching its 25th anniversary, the organization’s financial health improved enough to hire a full-time staff member. Lauren Hartz became its Annual Giving & Membership Manager late last year. Three part-time workers round out the staff of six.
“I’ve heard from many of our musicians that they love working with us because we provide a fun and collaborative environment,” Hickey said.
“A lot of times, it feels like family, even if it’s a professional setting. That stems from Ruben and our team having an organization that allows this to happen.”
Bach Collegium San Diego presents Bach’s Mass in B Minor
When and where: 7 p.m. Saturday at Saints Constantine and Helen Greek Orthodox Church, 3459 Manchester Ave., Cardiff.; 4 p.m. next Sunday at All Souls’ Episcopal Church, 1475 Catalina Blvd., Point Loma
Tickets: $15.53-$72.45
Phone: 619-341-1726
Online: bachcollegiumsd.org
Bach Collegium San Diego: Far Beyond the Skies
Where and where: 7 p.m. May 2 at Baker-Baum Concert Hall, The Conrad Prebys Performing Arts Center, 7600 Fay Ave, La Jolla; 4 p.m. May 3 at All Souls’ Episcopal Church, 1475 Catalina Blvd., Point Loma.
Tickets: $15.53-$72.45
Phone: 619-341-1726
Online: bachcollegiumsd.org