Susan Balbaugh passes the baton as executive director of Battle Creek’s The Music Center

Editor’s note: This story is part of Southwest Michigan Second Wave’s On the Ground Battle Creek series.

BATTLE CREEK, MI — Susan Balbaugh’s tune is about to change.

After 12 years as the Executive Director of The Music Center (TMC), she will be retiring on January 3 and transitioning into a less visible role with the organization.

“I will be working part-time in a donor relations role and continuing to cultivate our many supporters and throw donor parties and fundraisers. This is my dream job and an area I believe I can make the greatest impact,” she says.

“In this role, she’ll play a critical role in engaging the community, ensuring the organization’s continued success,” says Bill White, Past President of TMC’s Board of Directors, who is currently serving as Board Secretary.

At their November meeting, the Music Center’s Board of Directors hired Teri Noaeill, who will succeed Balbaugh as the organization’s new Executive Director. Noaeill currently serves as the Music Center’s Community Music School Artistic Director. She is also the Executive Director of What A Do Theater and will continue in that role, in addition to leading the Music Center.

Of her time with the Music Center, Balbaugh says, “It’s been an experience like no other I could have imagined. Kathy Shaw was president when I started my employment, and we had quite a bit of work to do. The arts had been impacted by changes at the national and local levels, and The Music Center was suffering like everyone else. She and I met for hours every week as we navigated an internal restructuring in order to succeed in this changing environment. We needed to do a lot of fundraising and Penny DeGarmo stepped up to help us with that task.”

Both Shaw and DeGarmo are past Presidents of the TMC’s Board of Directors.

Under Balbaugh’s creative and steady leadership, DeGarmo says TMC has developed into “one of the strongest, if not the strongest, arts organizations in Southwest Michigan. The Music Center has become a shining star, which has opened up the art of music to many. Her steadfast dedication to the MC has led the MC to a new level.”

Shaw says Balbaugh proved that TMC could become a sustaining and permanent part of the Battle Creek community.

“It’s really hard for me to think of Susan retiring. I’ve only really known The Music Center with Susan as Executive Director,” she says. “Susan headed the task of turning the Music Center into a nonprofit organization that figured out how to sustain itself, not an easy proposition in a community known for its over-abundance of non-profits seeking money from donors. She proved we could make The Music Center a sustaining and permanent part of our community.”

Balbaugh’s previous job as the head of marketing for Consumers Credit Union “offered the best management training I have ever experienced. Although I had many direct reports throughout my career, this management system was truly next-level, and I attribute much of my professional success these last years due to this. The experience this provided allowed me to put together a very strong and loyal admin team here at TMC.”

But in between Consumers and coming to the TMC, she was hired by another financial organization to manage the internal and external communications for an extensive three-year project. When this project was completed, she says it was her intent to take an entire summer off since she had been working since the age of 13. She referred to this time off as the “summer of Susan.”

Although she had never considered an Executive Director position, she says the skills required for the job were all those she excelled at.

“So I decided to apply. I remember during the interview, I told the interviewers that I’d be happy to fill in until they found a person with an arts management degree, which was what I knew they were looking for. I quickly took on the duty of revamping the entire marketing strategy and execution in addition to the other work, so my part-time commitment grew into about 60 hours a week very quickly. 

“After three months, it was apparent that what TMC needed was a strong businessperson, as the art of TMC was excellent, and someone needed to take care of the back end in order to allow the art to flourish. I was hired as a permanent ED at that time. The ‘summer of Susan’ only lasted six weeks, but it was about all I wanted in the end.”

When asked what the biggest challenges have been during her tenure as Executive Director, she says, “funding and time.”

Not long after her Executive Director role, she realized that the organization needed to upgrade its computers, server, and backup systems. She says  Terry Tassos, with CRT took on the project and found a way to get it done despite TMC’s limited resources. In addition, donors increased their giving, and two bequests came in at just the right time, allowing the organization to secure a strong emergency fund and pay for upgrades.

“We have no limit to great ideas and opportunities to serve the community, but have always lacked the time and money to do everything we’d like to. I find this to be true of the other arts organizations I know, and in the current climate, I do not see this changing. 

“We have been fortunate in having massive community support from individuals, foundations, businesses, and other sources that have helped us grow and offer the best possible programming and music experiences possible.”

She credits DeGarmo and Maestra Anne Harrigan, Music Director of the Battle Creek Symphony Orchestra (BCSO) , among others, with helping her to gain a better understanding of how best to navigate the funding intricacies.

“In my first year at TMC, I did not know how this worked,” Balbaugh says.

It has since become one of her areas of expertise.

“This is why I proposed to the Board of Directors that I stay on part-time in a donor relations role. This is something I am good at, that will provide support to our new executive director and will have a strong impact on continuing the legacy of TMC.”

Dedicated, resourceful, and passionate are the words used by Linda Whitfield, President of TMC’s Board of Directors, to describe Balbaugh.

“Her retirement at the end of this year leaves ‘big shoes’ to fill and she will be greatly missed as our Executive Director,” Whitfield says “Fortunately, it also allows us to welcome her with open arms as our new Donor Development Manager starting January, 2026, a position that will allow her to continue using her passion and expertise to strengthen our donor relationships, which is a vital asset for nonprofits during these times.”

Balbaugh says she “feels honored to have had this opportunity to work in one of the most interesting nonprofits in South Central Michigan and am looking forward to turning the reins over to a new leader to see where they take us next.”