Catherine Hughes

Executive Director of the Brooks Center

Contact
Department of Performing Arts
Office: 221 Brooks
Email: cahghs@clemson.edu

Catherine Hughes was formerly the Director of Education & Community Engagement at Palm Beach Opera from 2022-2025. She created, implemented, and managed interactive programs about opera performance for students of all ages. At PBO, she spearheaded the Opera Immersion Program in partnership with the Boys & Girls Club of Palm Beach County. The program, which offers students Grades 2 through 5, the opportunity to write, produce, and perform an original opera, is the largest education initiative in the PBO’s history. She also created a series of adult education programs in partnership with public libraries across southeast Florida, which included guest presentations from leading scholars in opera studies, music theory, theatre, and literature. During her tenure at PBO, the education programs served over 19,000 people.

Hughes holds a Ph.D. and M.A. in musicology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and a B.A. in Music and French from the College of the Holy Cross. Her graduate work focused on studied Verdi’s literary adaptations and the musical culture in Brussels between the World Wars. She has published research in Revue belge de musicologie/Belgisch tijdschrift voor muziekwetenschap and Ad Parnassum, and has given presentations on chamber music, opera, and music history pedagogy across the East Coast and in Europe. Her work has been supported by grants from the Belgian American Educational Foundation, the American Musicological Society, the Council for European Studies. Before joining Palm Beach Opera, she taught undergraduate courses in music history, world music, and music theory at Saint Joseph’s University and West Chester University.