Anteaters in the Arts
Alumni keep arts & culture vibrant in O.C.
By Christine Byrd
From innovative community theaters to world-class concert venues, Orange County is home to a vibrant arts community — powered, in no small part, by UC Irvine Claire Trevor School of the Arts (UCI Arts) alumni.
Every day, UCI Arts’ alumni work tirelessly behind the scenes at arts organizations both large and small to introduce emerging artists to the communities, invite children and adults with disabilities to dance, and orchestrate a bit of magic at the Happiest Place on Earth. At the same time, many of them are mentoring a new generation of arts students, helping them discover a variety of professional pathways in the arts as they start building their own creative careers.
Here are just a few of the dynamic leaders who keep OC’s arts thriving and share a common backstory: UC Irvine.
Expanding Music Education in Orange County
Katherine Yang ’03
Vice President of Education and Community Engagement
Philharmonic Society of Orange County
As a UC Irvine Department of Music student, Katherine Yang helped organize a music education program in local elementary schools. Now, as vice president of education and community engagement for the Philharmonic Society of Orange County, she oversees a department that last year reached more than 85,000 students and 416 schools across the county.
“It’s so meaningful to be able to bring a love of music to people, whether through educational institutions or the community more broadly,” said Yang. “Working with UCI, specifically, has given me a lot of wonderful full-circle moments.”
Image: Katherine Yang outside of Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall. Photo by Will Tee Yang.
Through ArtsBridge (now Creative Connections), 25 years ago, Yang and a fellow student went from school to school introducing music to young students — a process that required them to meet with principals, coordinate schedules with teachers, and conduct evaluation surveys. It’s work that’s not all that different from what Yang does today on a much larger scale.
“That UCI program was a way to launch students like me out into the community,” said Yang. “It really laid the foundation for me to do exactly what I’m doing now.”
After earning a bachelor’s of music in French horn performance and a B.A. in sociology from UC Irvine in 2003, Yang went to New York University for a master’s in performing arts administration. Back in California, she held a variety of arts administration roles with the Pasadena Symphony, Pacific Symphony and Pacific Chorale. Then, as a new parent, she led the launch of Irvine’s first Montessori Mandarin immersion program, leading the school for a decade before joining the Philharmonic Society two years ago.
UCI Arts has a long history with the Philharmonic Society. When Yang was a student, she enjoyed a master class from celebrated cellist Yo-Yo Ma thanks to the Philharmonic Society. Now, Yang’s job puts her at the nexus of the two organizations’ collaborative efforts. She and her education team arranged a master class at UC Irvine with the London Symphony Orchestra in 2025 and an interactive session with pianist and composer Conrad Tao in 2024. Last year, the Philharmonic Society also brought the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra’s STROKESTRA® program to campus, working with UCI students to offer rehabilitation through music to recent stroke patients.
She’s also introducing a new generation of students to the possibilities in arts education and administration. By hosting interns at the Philharmonic Society through the Arts Launch program, she’s helping to prepare students for professional pathways while bringing more music to the community.
Image: Katherine Yang participating in the Philharmonic Society’s Sound Playground ahead of a sensory-adapted Nutcracker performance with the Irvine Barclay Theatre. Photo by Drew Kelley.
“When I was a young music student, band and orchestra gave me built-in friendship and community and provided so many positive life experiences,” said Yang. “Being able to create opportunities like that for others now is really impactful for me personally.”
Creating Community through Theater
Shinshin Yuder Tsai ’16
Producing associate and resident intimacy and casting director
Chance Theater
Shinshin Yuder Tsai joyfully takes UCI Arts students under his wing at Chance Theater in Anaheim, Calif., where he is the producing associate and resident intimacy and casting director. He sees some of himself in the two interns he has mentored — one through the Arts Launch program — and passes along what he’s learned about establishing a career in the industry.
“I haven’t witnessed many schools helping students build those bridges to careers in theater, arts management and arts administration,” said Tsai. “That part of UCI Arts’ mission is lovely.”
Image: Shinshin Yuder Tsai, courtesy of Orange Coast Magazine. Photo by Ralph Palumbo.
Tsai, who graduated with a B.A. in drama in 2016, was an “itinerant contractor” early in his career, taking jobs that included reading scripts and operating an Oscar party livestream camera, before he settled into his role at Chance.
With eight productions each year, Chance Theater focuses on emerging voices and premieres, with the goal of supporting compassion and connection in the community. The theater’s creative connections with UCI run deep. Resident playwright Benjamin Benne’s new work, at the very bottom of a body of water, will debut at UC Irvine’s Robert Cohen Theatre in May 2026, directed by drama professor Juliette Carrillo.
“There’s a focus on connection and community at UCI Arts and at Chance,” said Tsai. “It was a really easy transition to Chance because of the similar culture — storytelling first and foremost but also connection and kindness.”
Image: Chance Theater production of Tick, Tick...BOOM! in 2025. Photo by Doug Catiller.
Building community inside the theater and out is part of what drives Tsai to want to eventually become an artistic director. The late drama professor Keith Fowler taught him this: “Theater influences people to ask new questions and consider new ideas. It’s how you change the world one community at a time.”
Supporting Emerging Artists in Irvine
Virginia Arce, M.F.A. ’17
Exhibitions Program Coordinator
City of Irvine
“My role is being a bridge to the community — not just Irvine but across Orange County,” said Virginia Arce, exhibitions program coordinator for the City of Irvine. Despite its reputation for beige buildings and well-manicured parks, Irvine holds exciting artistic potential.
Image: Virginia Arce, courtesy of SouthCoast Magazine. Photo by Irvin Rivera.
“Because of the city’s size and the proximity of a high-caliber research institution, Irvine is able to support the arts in a special way,” said Arce. “When you look closely, you realize that both the city and the university have a history of bringing great artists and exhibitions to the community.”
Arce has several municipal spaces to work with. The city showcases up-and-coming artists at City Hall and the Great Park (which is hosting an exhibition on UC Irvine’s Beall Center for Art + Technology’s 25th anniversary through Dec. 28, 2025) and hosts an annual juried exhibition. At the Irvine Fine Arts Center, kids as young as 6 can take art classes, and artists can access studios for ceramics, jewelry, photography and printmaking — evidence of art as a public good.
Since joining the city in 2019, Arce has curated exhibits featuring emerging artists including William Camargo, Erik Benjamins, Zara Kuredjian and Katie Shapiro, M.F.A. ’15. Arce attends UC Irvine’s M.F.A. thesis shows each year and travels to exhibitions and galleries across the region to discover new work and foster connections. It’s a process she honed while earning her master’s in curatorial studies.
“In the M.F.A. program, the advisors didn’t tell us which artists to work with. We had to go find the artists we connected with and build those relationships ourselves. I’ve brought that ethos with me,” said Arce. “I came into this position really passionate about supporting artists at different stages of their careers, and I feel very fortunate to be able to do that here.”
Ensuring Access to Arts for All
Chloe Saalsaa, ’17
Senior Manager
Studio D: Arts School for All Abilities, Segerstrom Center for the Arts
Segerstrom Center’s Studio D: Arts School for All Abilities opens the world of music, dance and theater to hundreds of local children and adults with disabilities.
“The conversation around disability and accessibility, and where they belong in the arts, is very exciting,” said Chloe Saalsaa, manager of the program. “Studio D is such a unique program with many brilliant thought partners working together to create a space for this community to ensure they have a place in the arts.”
Image: Chloe Saalsaa outside of Segerstrom Hall. Photo by Will Tee Yang.
Saalsaa has been with Studio D at Segerstrom Center for the Arts since 2017, the year it opened and she graduated from UC Irvine with her B.F.A. in dance. Though she started as an administrative assistant, today she leads operations, manages a team of 16 instructors, therapists and administrators, and scheduled classes for 640 students last year.
Saalsaa credits UCI Arts for finding this career path. As a dance major, she heard about opportunities to work for the American Ballet Theatre (ABT) William J. Gillespie School at Segerstrom Center for the Arts, and went on to be a camp counselor and eventually a certified ABT teacher. But her focus shifted during her senior year, when she took an arts management course taught by Molly Lynch, professor of dance. The class opened her eyes to professional opportunities she had never considered before.
“I wanted to dance and perform, but then arts administration came into my world and I said, ‘Yes, let’s give it a try,’” Saalsaa said. “It turned out to be the right fit for me.”
Now, she gets to share her love of dance with the community, while creating new opportunities for people of all abilities to engage with the arts.
“I love to see our program welcoming students who at first might feel anxious or want to stay off to the side of class,” said Saalsaa. “Down the road, when they realize we’ve created a safe place for them to express themselves through the performing arts, we see their growth as individuals and the center’s growth as a more welcoming arts hub.”
Image: Chloe Saalsaa at Studio D’s 2024 Share event on the Julianne and George Argyros Plaza. Photo by Brian Gomez.
Creating Magic at the Happiest Place on Earth
Jennifer Magill, M.F.A. ’96
Executive Producer
Disney Live Entertainment
In 1996, Jennifer Magill missed her own M.F.A. commencement ceremony at UC Irvine. But she was even more excited to be where she was: working at the world premiere of Disney’s Hunchback of Notre Dame at the New Orleans Superdome.
Magill was studying stage management at UC Irvine when she started her Disney career 30 years ago. As her peers took internships in theaters, Magill’s beloved mentor and faculty advisor, Lilia Illes, asked if she’d interested in an internship at Disneyland. “I gave it about as much thought as, ‘Do you want fries with that?’ before saying yes,” said Magill.
Image: Jennifer Magill
As a stage manager, production manager, managing producer and now an executive producer for Disney Live Entertainment, Magill has worked on projects as diverse as opening Hong Kong Disneyland Resort to D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event with a live audience of 12,000 at the Honda Center.
But the project she is most proud of is World of Color, which she stewarded from a sketch on a napkin into a full-length spectacle of lights, water fountains, fire, fog, projections and music at Disney California Adventure Park.
“That team truly pulled off the impossible,” Magill said. Because she knows the ins and outs of World of Color, she is often asked her favorite place to watch from.
“It’s where I can see the faces of the guests watching the show,” Magill said. “I’m not curing cancer or saving the world, but I’m helping to make the world a happier place. Something Disney does really well is help find those moments of connection that we desperately need. No matter your background or interests, we can offer a safe space to celebrate together and create special memories.”
Magill returns to UCI periodically to speak to graduate classes as they chart their own professional pathways.
“I am so excited to come back to UCI whenever I get the opportunity,” said Magill. “UCI gave me so much, and I would like to pay it forward to the next generation.”
To learn more about upcoming alumni news, visit arts.uci.edu/news/alumni.
Please visit our secure direct giving page and make a gift to support UCI Arts today!