Elaine Martone
In her 29 years at Telarc as Executive Vice President of Production, Elaine Martone built the finest audio production team in the industry, garnering praise for excellence in all major audio publications. She led the Production Department of 12 highly motivated creative individuals who worked seamlessly to achieve the company’s goals and mission of audio excellence while adhering to the highest standards of integrity. She was responsible for post-production audio direction and approval for every Telarc release. As a key executive in planning and creative decision making, she managed more than 1,500 projects on-time and on-budget, accountable for more than $6 million annually in production costs, and $15 million in sales.
As a world-class producer, she is a 5-time Grammy Award winner in both Classical and Jazz, and a 8-time Grammy nominee; is a member of the Grammy Producers and Engineers Wing Committee and a Chicago Chapter Board of Governors. As head of Artist Relations, Elaine collaborated with artists and organizations on a daily basis to determine the concept and repertoire for each project using clear and concise written and verbal communications, to ensure a smooth recording process and the highest possible quality result for the artist.
She began her career in 1980 when Telarc was in its infancy. Born in Rochester, New York and reared on Long Island, Elaine moved to Cleveland to study oboe with aspirations of playing with a symphony orchestra. A graduate of Ithaca College with a Bachelor of Music degree, she was a novice to the recording business. Taught the basics of the industry by Telarc founders Robert Woods and Jack Renner, Elaine quickly grasped what determined the Telarc sound, becoming an accomplished editor, and then recording producer and an integral part of the management team.
Elaine has served as producer on award winning recordings of both classical and jazz, including those by the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra with Robert Spano, Donald Runnicles, Yoel Levi, and Robert Shaw, The Cleveland Orchestra with Franz Welser-Möst, the Philharmonia Orchestra with Ben Zander, Empire Brass Quintet, classical guitarist David Russell, and jazz greats Geri Allen, Ray Brown, Ann Hampton Callaway, Michel Camilo, Oscar Peterson, Tierney Sutton, and McCoy Tyner to name a few.
Elaine was Executive Producer for Spring for Music, an orchestral music festival produced at Carnegie Hall with founding directors Thomas W. Morris, David V. Foster and Mary Lou Falcone. The festival took place each May from 2011 through 2014 at the iconic hall, with orchestras invited to perform based on their innovative programming. She is Festival Producer for the world-renowned Ojai Music Festival, one of the most exciting and creative music festivals in the field, having been appointed to that position in January 2012.
From September 2009 through June 2010, Elaine was engaged as Interim Artistic Administrator for The Cleveland Orchestra. In that position, she managed all aspects of artistic planning and programming, collaborating with the Music Director, Executive Director and General Manager. During those ten months Elaine guided the artistic profile of the Orchestra, and initiated, developed and maintained the Orchestra’s relationships with major conductors, composers, guest artists and managers.
With her husband, Robert Woods, she has formed a music enterprise, Sonarc Music and is pursuing her passion, producing great music and musicians, as well as working with talented young people.