Executive Director, CHANEL Center for Artists and Technology at CalArts

MaryClare
Brzytwa

I build the systems that let people create together.

I build and lead innovative programs where artists and technologists work together. My record spans higher education, game technology and music production: the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, Epic Games, Meta, and now the CHANEL Center for Artists and Technology at CalArts.

Leadership roles at CHANEL Center for Artists and Technology Meta Epic Games San Francisco Conservatory of Music Oberlin Conservatory of Music

01 / Profile

An institution builder for art and technology, with community as the method

I am the inaugural Executive Director of the CHANEL Center for Artists and Technology at California Institute of the Arts, a new center where artists learn about technology and collaborate with scientists on research and development.

Before CalArts I managed the music production team at Meta and audio teams at Epic Games, where I built systems that helped technical and creative stakeholders decide and prioritize together. At the San Francisco Conservatory of Music I founded the Technology and Applied Composition program, built its curriculum from the ground up and grew it from 0 to 100 students.

I trained as a composer and performer. That practice informs how I hire, how I design programs, and how I translate between artists, engineers, funders and boards.

Principled disruption

I brought music technology and a new curriculum into a prestigious, conservative, 100-year-old American conservatory. The program I launched grew from 0 to 100 students, became one of the school's top revenue generators, and built industry partnerships that placed many students in jobs. It reached gender parity in composition, which The New York Times reported in 2018: 13 women and 12 men in the program's cohort. What guides me is building community, making space for others, and designing systems that multiply a group's talents. I look for the systemic causes of marginalization and mediocrity and put root-cause solutions in place that scale.

Collaborative stewardship

Collaborative stewardship means redistributing power in governance and decision-making, so that more people shape how technology is developed and less homogenized groups are the ones inventing new things. The result is products that are better for people and the planet, that solve problems for more people, and that do the least harm.

In practice I do this through agile project management and matrixed organizations, and I have built and run both from the ground up. I believe in their power to neutralize the loudest voices and find the best ideas across people and disciplines. I have worked inside these systems in some of the industry's leading research and development groups, at Reality Labs, Epic Games and Meta's Music and Production team, and I have a knack for translating them into artistic and nonprofit settings, so that efficiency and talent go toward the best institutional outcomes.

Applied innovation

I build things that did not exist before, and I build them to last: a degree program that joined composition and technology at a 100-year-old conservatory, recording studios designed for teaching, a music method for young children that other teachers could deliver, and a new center for artists and technology at CalArts.

In each case I started from what people needed to be able to do, designed the structure that makes it possible, and built the team and systems to carry it.

02 / Leadership record

I design the conditions for other people's best work: curriculum, teams, studios and budgets

Present

CHANEL Center for Artists and Technology @ CalArts

Inaugural Executive Director

Founding leader of the center, reporting to the President of CalArts. Took it from a funded concept to a working center in its first year: hired and onboarded the founding team, led the renovation and outfitting of its facility on time and on budget, designed the visiting artist program, and built partnerships across arts, technology and philanthropy. Manage the center's budget and the relationship with CHANEL, as its primary point of contact. Report regularly to senior leaders on CHANEL's arts and culture teams.

2022 to 2025

Epic Games

Senior Audio Manager (previously Audio Manager)

Built systems that let cross-functional stakeholders make decisions and set priorities together. Hired and managed technical audio designers, sound designers and music leads for projects across the games' content ecosystem, with as many as 13 direct reports. Produced the all-hands meetings and offsites for the audio organization.

2020 to 2022

Meta

Sound Design Manager, MxP (Music and Production)

Started as Audio Producer III, Immersive. Returned October 2025 to January 2026 on contract as Project Manager, Spatial Audio Research, Reality Labs.

Promoted from producer to manager after leading audio research and development programs, including a year-long spatial audio study with Oxford University that influenced VR hardware decisions. Managed a 12-person creative production team and one manager within MxP (Music and Production). The role was primarily process and people management.

2020 to 2022

New England Conservatory of Music

Institutional Research and Planning Consultant, Music Technology

Researched and presented strategic recommendations for technology investment on behalf of the faculty, as part of the school's five-year strategic plan for curriculum, performance and facilities. Worked with the President to design the budgets for the related fundraising plan.

2013 to 2020

San Francisco Conservatory of Music

Executive Director, Technology and Applied Composition

Earlier: Associate Dean for New Media and Music Technology; Assistant Dean for Professional Development and Academic Technology

Founded the program, which launched with a bachelor's degree and a professional studies certificate and later added a master's degree. Wrote its curriculum, grew enrollment from 0 to 100 students, supervised faculty and taught five classes a year. Led a $1 million build-out of three recording rooms and two music technology classrooms, ran the recording studio and the AV team behind 400 concerts a year across three halls, wrote the accreditation report, and worked directly with donors and the board. Built partnerships with the Shanghai Conservatory of Music and recruited across the US and Asia. Also consulted on the design of Studio G, working with the architects on acoustics and equipment specifications. The room was completed after my departure and later hosted a Grammy Awards listening session. Recording studio control room at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, with a mixing console and a red chairRecording studio control room, part of the $1 million build-out Music technology classroom at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, with rows of workstations and a keyboardMusic technology lab Synthesizer lab at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, with keyboards, synthesizers and a workstationSynthesizer lab Studio G at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, a wood-lined recording room with a grand pianoStudio G, completed after my departure

2012 to 2013

Oberlin Conservatory of Music

Director of Professional Development

Coordinated a Bay Area internship program that placed students in 28 internships.

Avant Tot Music Method

Founder

Created a music-teaching method for children: a student book, a teacher's manual with 12 lesson plans, and an instruction app. At its peak, 30 students were enrolled, taught by two teachers I hired to deliver the curriculum I wrote. See sample pages.

0 to 100

students across the degree and certificate programs I founded

On time

and on budget: the facility renovation I led at CalArts

$1M

recording studio and classroom build-out at the Conservatory

6 years

of revenue targets exceeded at the Conservatory

03 / Consulting

Available for consulting and advisory work

I have managed projects across higher education, nonprofits and industry. My strength is building frameworks that let stakeholders who come from different paradigms succeed together: faculty and engineers, artists and funders, boards and product teams.

I take on a limited number of engagements with universities, conservatories, cultural organizations, foundations and creative technology companies. Formats: ongoing advisory retainers, short assessments with a written report, board and search committee briefings, and board roles. Past consulting includes institutional research and planning for music technology at the New England Conservatory of Music.

New programs and curriculum

Designing degree programs and centers from zero: curriculum, faculty model, recruitment, accreditation readiness.

Art and technology strategy

Helping arts institutions decide where emerging technology belongs in their mission, and how to keep the work artist driven.

Creative and technical teams

Organization design, hiring plans and production process, including shared intake and prioritization, so artists and engineers work from one roadmap.

Studios and facilities

Planning recording, AV and prototyping spaces: scope, equipment budgets, staffing and operations.

Start a conversation on LinkedIn

Send a message with your organization, the question you are working on, and your timeline.

04 / Speaking and press

Selected talks

  • 2019Diversity and Inclusion panel, San Francisco Conservatory of Music and 21st Century Fox Studios, Los Angeles
  • 2018Invited speaker, Western Association of Schools and Colleges Conference, San Francisco
  • 2018Invited speaker, Game Audio Network Guild Awards, San Francisco
  • 2017Guest lectures at Shanghai Conservatory of Music, Sookmyung Women's University (Seoul) and Soochow University (Taipei)
  • 2016Panelist, New Acoustic Dimensions and the Future of Live Performance, San Francisco

05 / Education

MFA, Composer and Performer
California Institute of the Arts, 2012

BA, Composition
Mills College, 2006

06 / Board service

Game Audio Network Guild
Board Member, 2018 to [YEAR]

San Francisco Contemporary Music Players
Board Member, 2018 to [YEAR]

Alameda Music Project
Board Member, 2015 to 2017

07 / Artistic practice

Composer, flutist and electronic musician. Performances and recordings from 2007 onward are listed in the archive.

Performance and recordings archive

08 / Recommendations

What clients and colleagues say

“MaryClare Brzytwa is an outstanding leader at the intersection of music and technology. Her invaluable consultation with the New England Conservatory faculty played a critical role in developing considerations for NEC's future planning.”
Kathleen Kelly
Chief Executive Officer, New England Conservatory of Music. Client.
“She is a visionary and fearless leader who consistently delivers successful outcomes.”
Taurin Barrera
Associate Professor of Music Technology, Hong Kong Baptist University. Reported to MaryClare at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.
“MaryClare consistently supported her students and colleagues, fostering an environment where everyone could thrive and reach their full potential.”
Daria Novo
Composer, orchestrator and conductor. Reported to MaryClare at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.
“She has strong skills in technical product planning, and wrangling complex development projects with tangled webs of key stakeholders.”
Buzz Burrowes
Distinguished Audio Programmer, Epic Games. Senior colleague.
“She sees the vision for audio and music that we're going for here at Epic and works to help us achieve it.”
Aaron McLeran
Founder, Rhizome Audio. Colleague at Epic Games.

Excerpts from recommendations on LinkedIn.