The Majkuts begin a new chapter with careers in two states
By Jim Flint for Ashland.news
When the Rogue Valley Symphony opens its 2025-26 season in Southern Oregon, Music Director Martin Majkut will be right where he’s been for more than 15 years: on the podium, coaxing another season of artistry out of the orchestra.
But this fall, his wife, Chelsea Majkut, won’t be in the Rogue Valley. Instead, she’ll be settling into a new position at the University of Iowa School of Music in Iowa City, a move that marks both a professional leap for her and a new kind of balancing act for their family.
Chelsea, a composer, bassoonist and educator, will serve as an admissions and outreach specialist, guiding young musicians through some of the most pivotal decisions of their lives. It’s a role she calls “very important” and deeply personal.
“I’ve been in their shoes,” she said. “I know what it feels like to be deciding where to go to school, and how helpful it is to have someone there who makes you feel comfortable.”
The offer from Iowa arrived quickly but decisively.
“They made me feel wanted from the start,” Chelsea said.
A shared decision
For Martin, the choice to support her was equally clear, even if it meant rethinking their family’s geography.
“Chelsea got an exciting offer that means a major career advancement for her,” he said. “Sometimes you must go an extra step, but we believe we found a way for both of us to find professional fulfillment.”
Martin previously split time between New York and Oregon during his nine-year tenure with the Queens Symphony Orchestra, so the arrangement feels familiar.
“Most of our patrons never noticed I had another job back then,” he said. “When I am away, be it in New York, Iowa or Slovakia, I work from afar. It is so much easier in today’s world.” His “primary residence,” he said, will remain in the Rogue Valley.
Two paths forward
Still, the move underscores the reality of a marriage between two ambitious musicians: Careers can’t always follow the same score. For Chelsea, the Iowa post means trading the classroom work she has loved at Southern Oregon University and Rogue Community College for the chance to influence the next generation of performers before they even step on campus. She and their young son William will reside in Iowa City.
“William and I will come back to visit as often as we are able,” Chelsea said. “I’ll miss my students and colleagues deeply. They’ve given me so much. But this is the right step.”
Both Chelsea and Martin envision Iowa as fertile ground for creative expansion. Chelsea hopes to collaborate with faculty and ensembles on new performances of her works. Martin has already offered to speak with Iowa students about orchestral life. “He was thrilled,” Martin said of the university’s orchestra director.
The couple also looks forward to exploring the region’s music scene, cycling trails, and cultural institutions, from Iowa City’s performance halls to Chicago’s museums.
Back in the Rogue Valley, Martin remains focused on the future of the Rogue Valley Symphony. His ambitions extend beyond programming.
“Artistic excellence remains our mantra,” he said, “but my biggest dream has to do with education. Music education is in a precarious state here, and my ultimate dream is to build a facility where we can bring children in for lessons. If that building had a concert hall, too, well, that would be a fairy tale straight out of Disney.”
His nine-year tenure with Queens Symphony Orchestra in New York concluded at the end of last season.
“I will always cherish those memories,” he said. “Now I am pouring my energy into the RVS and the Oregon Coast Music Festival. Both are dear to me.”
Trust and teamwork
The logistics of marriage across two time zones will take careful choreography, but the Majkuts say they are well rehearsed in the art of partnership.
“Martin and I are a team,” Chelsea said. “Even though this transition is going to be challenging, I know I can trust my partner to have my back, and he knows I have his. That’s the wonderful thing about having a partner who gets what you do.”
When the orchestra begins its new season in Ashland, Medford and Grants Pass, Martin will be on the podium as he has for years. In Iowa, Chelsea will be welcoming students into a program that could shape the course of their lives. Their work will take place in different cities, but it remains bound by the same purpose: to keep music alive, and to pass it on.
Freelance writer Jim Flint is a retired newspaper publisher and editor. Email him at jimflint.ashland@yahoo.com.
