About Margo Drakos
Margo Tatgenhorst Drakos is Chief Operating Officer and co-founder of InstantEncore.com, a classical music platform providing 21st Century tools for artists and arts organizations to harness the power of the internet to connect with fans anywhere, anytime. Ms. Drakos’ focus is on InstantEncore’s business development and strategy and is currently working with over 2100 international organizations including Aspen Music Festival, Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Curtis Institute of Music, London Philharmonic Orchestra, New York Philharmonic and YouTube. She is a frequent guest-speaker at conferences and universities on “Artists and Arts Organizations for the 21st Century”. Her leadership abilities were recognized in 2010 by the World Economic Forum headed by Queen Rania of Jordan with an invitation to join the Forum of Young Global Leaders, a community of extraordinary achievers under the age of 40.
Prior to InstantEncore, Ms. Drakos performed as a solo cellist and chamber musician throughout Asia, Europe, South America, and the United States. The former cellist of the American String Quartet, Ms. Drakos has also held posts as the Associate Principal Cellist of the Pittsburgh Symphony, Principal Cellist of the San Diego and Oregon Symphonies, and Guest Principal of Seattle Symphony. Ms. Drakos has toured the U.S. with Musicians from Marlboro, and collaborated with the world’s leading artists. Ms. Drakos served as Artist-in-Residence and faculty member at Manhattan School of Music and Aspen Music Festival. Ms. Drakos has recorded for Arabesque Records and Sony Classical and produced for the Miro String Quartet on Longhorn Records.
At fifteen, Ms. Drakos entered the Cleveland Institute of Music as a double major in cello and composition. She completed her education at the prestigious Curtis Institute of Music where she studied with David Soyer. She received a Masters Degree from Columbia University in Human Rights (2008). Ms. Drakos articles on human rights and the extractive industry have appeared in The International Affairs Review, The Stanford Social Innovation Review, The Cornell International Law Journal, and The United Kingdom Parliament’s House of Lords and House of Commons Joint Committee on Human Rights Report.
Margo resides in Los Angeles with her husband, a resident physician at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center. Margo is co-founder of TheAppBridge.com, an initiative of the World Economic Forum to develop, implement, and promote information mobile applications compatible with the physical, social and economic realities of Emerging Markets and the empowerment of the citizens thereof. She is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Cleveland Institute of Music, and a South Central Scholar Mentor.