Kate Nordstrum, who programmed new music at the Southern Theater, has taken her talents to the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra. The organization announced Thursday that Nordstrum will work as a producer of special projects. The position is funded for one year by the Augustine Foundation, based in New York.

Nordstrum will be given the opportunity to use the SPCO's "Music Room," a 250-seat space right adjacent to the company's headquarters in the Hamm Building. The chamber orchestra rehearses in the room and ensembles occasionally perform there, but the intention is for Nordstrum to pump up the volume. Part of her mandate is to introduce contemporary classical composers and musicians to the Twin Cities. That is something she was actively engaged in at the Southern before that institution ran into severe financial problems last spring.

Since leaving the Southern, she's done projects with the Walker, the Cedar Cultural Center, Northrop, the Schubert Club and New Amsterdam Records.