Making Music for Everyone: Kelly Ruggirello’s Vision for the Long Beach Symphony

For Kelly Ruggirello, music is about bringing people together.

As president of the Long Beach Symphony for the past 14 years, Ruggirello has shaped the organization into more than an orchestra. Under her leadership, it has become a community partner, an educational resource and a gathering place where people from all backgrounds can connect through the universal language of music.

"I've been passionate about building strong nonprofits and creating meaningful community partnerships and making the arts more accessible to everyone," Kelly said. "That is my driving force."

But art has always played a big role in her career. Long before she began leading one of Southern California's premier orchestras, Ruggirello was introducing students to the arts as a third-grade teacher at Gauldin Elementary School in Downey.

"Early in my career, I saw how music can really create connections and inspire learning and strengthen communities,” Kelly said. “I just always knew that I wanted to be a part of that impact."

That passion eventually led her to an unexpected opportunity. Looking for a summer job while teaching, Ruggirello accepted a position with the Los Angeles Philharmonic as a publicity associate.

"I didn't know very much about orchestras back then," Kelly said. "It was a huge learning curve. And I just fell in love."

Today, that same enthusiasm continues to fuel her work at the Long Beach Symphony, where she believes music offers something uniquely powerful.

"For me, music is a way for people to relate to one another and learn about themselves at the same time," Kelly said. "Music heals, it celebrates, it inspires, it educates. It provides everyone the opportunity to experience joy and inspiration that only live music provides."

Live performances, she says, create moments that cannot be recreated.

"When you're sitting with thousands of people and you just finished a Mahler symphony or Beethoven's Ninth, and the audience erupts in this extraordinary standing ovation, you're all celebrating this experience you've just had," Kelly said. "To me, there's nothing like it."

Making those experiences accessible to everyone has become one of Ruggirello's highest priorities. The Symphony now serves approximately 35,000 students each year through music education programs and has reached nearly one million children throughout its history. It also welcomes everyone—from lifelong classical music enthusiasts to first-time concertgoers—to experience the artistry of its Classical Series and the relaxed atmosphere of picnicking and dancing at its Pops concerts. During the pandemic, the organization also used the pause in performances to rethink how it could better serve the city's diverse communities.

Rather than simply bringing traditional classical music into different neighborhoods, the Symphony began creating collaborative performances with local cultural organizations. One of those efforts told the Cambodian American experience through music alongside Cambodian artists and Long Beach Symphony musicians.

"It's a story that hadn't been told publicly," Kelly said. "Music can actually be a storyteller in a way that's safe for everybody, where you can build mutual respect and understanding."

The Symphony has also worked to remove practical barriers that prevent families from attending performances. Free family concerts, multicultural festivals and the Symphony Express shuttle program, developed in partnership with Long Beach Transit, have all been created with accessibility in mind.

"We wanted to make sure folks from the whole city have access to world-class music," Kelly said. "That's our mission."

That same commitment to making music accessible helped inspire one of Ruggirello's longest-running goals: creating a permanent summer home for the Long Beach Symphony.

Years ago, she shared that vision with then-Mayor and now Congressman Robert Garcia. Those conversations eventually led to her appointment to the Queen Mary Land Development Task Force, where she spent two years developing recommendations for the future of the waterfront.

One of those recommendations was a world-class professional amphitheater.

"The City Council adopted it unanimously," Kelly said. "I've been working on this since basically since I got here. You can imagine how fulfilling it is to finally see this come to fruition."

Now, that vision becomes reality as the Long Beach Symphony prepares to perform at the amphitheater for the first time on Thursday, Aug. 20 with Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl in concert. Before the orchestra performs the film's iconic score live alongside the movie, families can enjoy a free music education festival from 6 to 8 p.m. featuring student performances, an instrument petting zoo, children's activities and local nonprofit partners.

"There's something magical about hearing a full orchestra under the stars by the sea," Kelly said. "Whether you're a lifelong symphony fan or attending for the very first time, I promise this is an experience you won't want to miss. Come make history with us under the stars."

For Ruggirello, the evening represents far more than a concert. It's the beginning of what she hopes will become a longstanding tradition, with future performances featuring nationally recognized artists alongside the Symphony.

"I think it's a milestone both for the Symphony and the city," Kelly said. "It allows the Symphony and Long Beach to reach a larger, more diverse audience. And in turn, the amphitheater elevates Long Beach as a major cultural destination."

As the Symphony continues to evolve, Ruggirello remains guided by the same mission that has defined her career from the beginning—ensuring every member of the community can experience the transformative power of music.