In its 100 years, the Southern Theater in Minneapolis has been many things, from a vaudeville stage to a garage to a second playhouse for the Guthrie. Now, for what is arguably the first time, the intimate 200-seat space is becoming a hot spot for new music, thanks to its music-programming director, Kate Nordstrum.

Nordstrum took the job in 2008. In just two years she has booked such big names as indie singer/songwriter Sufjan Stevens and East Coast classical- music whiz kid Nico Muhly, and put the Southern on the map for touring acts that represent an emerging brand of music that straddles classical, folk, alt-rock and electronic.

She has done so while also sharing the space with bookings for dance (under Laurie Van Wieren) and theater (curated by Jon Ferguson).

"Having one curator in charge of music allowed for us to start thinking about a full season of music at the Southern, which we really hadn't done before," Nordstrum said.

Nordstrum already had been working as the theater's marketing and communications director. She helped Jeff Bartlett, former artistic director at the Southern, set up the theater's Wordless Music Series, showing she had the zeal and experience to add music booking to her job description.

The yoga network

A Wisconsin native and graduate of the University of Minnesota's Carlson School of Management, Nordstrum designed her own major in arts administration. She arranged an internship at New York City's Lincoln Center, which eventually turned into a job. There, she established contacts all over the classical-music world, working on the Mostly Mozart festival and even meeting musicians in yoga classes she taught.

Nordstrum didn't aspire to do music programming until she began at the Southern. The theater's intimacy and acoustics inspired her. "The space was just so right for atmospheric music," she said.

Talking with other Twin Cities curators (Weisman Art Museum marketing director/event manager Christopher James is a key brainstorming companion), Nordstrum is always taking notes on names to book and acts to check out.

Currently, she's interested in working with instrumental- electronica musician Dosh, and has been tipped off that string-based indie rockers Anders Ponders would be an ideal fit for the Southern.

Despite her recent display of neo-chamber savvy, Nordstrum says that building up her Rolodex of must-know names is a project-in-progress.

"In college I think I had really bad music taste," she said. Raised on her dad's diet of Bob Dylan and the Beatles, Nordstrum switched gears in high school, as she filled her Walkman with feminist musicians such as Fiona Apple and Ani DiFranco.

Nordstrum and her husband, Eddie, are already making music a part of life for their 2-year-old daughter, Mae.

"At home, dance parties are a staple," she said. Mae's current favorite track is Broken Bells' "The High Road."

"She loves dancing to it," Nordstrum said.

When Nordstrum isn't busy coordinating for the Southern or hanging out with her family, she's probably out on the town at the Red Stag or Kings Wine Bar in Minneapolis.

But most of the time, she's at the Southern, organizing events or enjoying the ones she created.

As she put it, "If anyone's interested in learning more about that world of music, this is the place to do it."

Rebecca Lang is a journalism student at the University of Minnesota on assignment for the Star Tribune.