Maddy Kuhl Lamont Staff Profile

Ever wonder how Lamont was able to produce 230 events in one year in the middle of a pandemic? The leader behind that miracle was Maddy Kuhl, Lamont’s Concert Production and Facilities Manager. Kuhl started producing concerts at Lamont in spring 2019. She has had a tremendous impact on the success of our concerts and our transition to streaming. Because so much of producing a concert requires that a producer and crew are not seen, it’s a joy to bring her out of the shadows here in Lyrics!

Kuhl has been in music business since she could walk. Both her parents are musicians, and early in her life she became a “roadie,” helping set up for shows around Denver and beyond. By high school, music was one of her only outlets; she knew she wanted to stay involved by producing concerts. At Metropolitan State and CU Denver, she developed her own degree in audio production between the two schools, one that spoke to the way she wanted to shape her career. Through her studies, she gained what she called “a broad perspective of what production, events, and music really look like and how they impact the greater community.” She was hooked.

After an internship at Swallow Hill Music, Kuhl did contract work along with a fulltime job at the Denver Center. The most impactful and inspirational qualities of her work came down to helping people connect with music. “There are so many different styles,” she said. “All are an expression of culture, time, and place. It brings a richness to our world.”

Producing shows can feel like a high-wire act. “It is the most moment-to-moment type of work that isn’t in a medical field that I can think of,” said Kuhl. “You have to be present through the whole lead-up to the concert. If you’re doing things right, the actual performance is the point where you usually are the most relaxed.” One can never relax completely, though, since “one minute can be the difference between an amazing event and a big disaster.” It’s intense but highly rewarding work.

Executing a successful show has its own satisfaction. Kuhl described “doing the invisible work” in a production that can contribute to something feeling magical, “where the audience has that suspension of disbelief, or it has that moment of feeling as if they are in a completely different world than the one they were in before walking through the door to the venue.” 

At Lamont, Kuhl enjoys working with students, faculty, performers, volunteers, and patrons. “I see students develop as performers throughout their studies,” she said. “The questions they ask become more mature and thorough, making it clear they have a better understanding of an entire production instead of just their part. I really enjoy getting to work with a crew, seeing how they develop, and directly mentoring them. Production is a completely different part of the industry where music majors could work. It is just as accessible a career path as any.”

Production management, hospitality, lights, sound, video, front of house, marketing, ticketing: all these elements contribute to a successful concert, something whose execution is seamless to the point where all you remember is the experience of a wonderful night of music. At Lamont, we can thank Kuhl and our entire staff for their invisible contributions toward such memorable moments.