Elaine Martone ’79
LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
This award acknowledges alumni who have completed at least 40 years of their professional career and/or retired from their lifelong profession. They have achieved exceptional success in their profession and/or have contributed significantly to the advancement and leadership of noteworthy civic, philanthropic, or service organizations for many years. Their lifelong achievements have brought them significant professional and volunteer recognition and has set a standard of excellence to which others may aspire.
As a world-class producer, Elaine Martone is a 6-time Grammy Award winner (and a Latin Grammy Award winner) working in both Classical and Jazz, and a 13-time Grammy nominee. As Executive Vice President of Production and Artist Relations at Telarc Records for 29 years, Elaine collaborated with artists and organizations on a daily basis to determine the concept and repertoire to ensure a smooth recording process and the highest possible quality result for the artist.
Elaine built the finest audio production team in the industry, garnering praise for excellence from both artists and in all major audio publications. Hailed as a luminary by The New York Times, she was trained by industry icons and visionaries Robert Woods and Jack Renner.
Elaine 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. Graduating cum laude from Ithaca College with a Bachelor of Music degree in 1979, she was a novice to the recording business. Elaine quickly grasped what determined the Telarc sound, becoming an accomplished editor, and then recording producer and an integral part of the senior management team.
Elaine has served as producer on award-winning recordings of both classical and jazz, including those by The Cleveland Orchestra with Franz Welser-Möst, the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and Chorus with Robert Spano, Donald Runnicles, Yoel Levi, and Robert Shaw, The Cleveland Orchestra with Franz Welser-Möst, the Cincinnati Pops Orchestras with John Morris Russell and Erich Kunzel, Empire Brass Quintet, classical guitarist David Russell, and jazz greats Geri Allen, Ray Brown, Dave Brubeck, 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 for 4 years with founding directors Thomas W. Morris, David V. Foster and Mary Lou Falcone, music industry legends. She was Festival Producer for the world-renowned Ojai Music Festival, one of the most exciting and creative music festivals in the field, and was Lab Director for the innovative Blackbird Creative Lab.
Together with her husband, Robert Woods, Elaine formed a music enterprise, Sonarc Music and continues to pursue her passion, producing great music and musicians, as well as working with talented young people in a wide variety of musical styles. Her beloved husband is on his journey with dementia, and Elaine is full-time caregiver in addition to being a full-time recording producer. When she has a moment, she loves reading, cooking and gardening, their 4 cats and was a competitive ballroom dancer for 10 years. She remains passionate about mentoring the next generation of young people in the music business. Elaine and Bob reside in Shaker Heights, Ohio.
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