Orchestra of St. Luke's Announces New Additions to its Board and Administration

Orchestra of St. Luke's (OSL) announces new additions to its administrative leadership and Board of Directors. Earlier this month Founding Partner of CAI Private Equity Peter M. Gottsegen was unanimously elected to serve on the orchestra's Board of Directors and New England Conservatory Sistema Fellow Jennifer Kessler joined the staff as Director of Education.

Peter M. Gottsegen is a philanthropist and leader in the arts. From 1989 to 1996 he served as Chairman of the Board of Caramoor International Music Festival, OSL's birthplace and summer home. Prior to founding CAI Private Equity in 1989, he was a General Partner of Salomon Brothers Inc., in charge of the firm's International Investment Banking division. Mr. Gottsegen also served as Vice President in the corporate finance department of Kuhn, Loeb & Co.

Mr. Gottsegen is currently a member of the Council on Foreign Relations Inc., Vice Chairman of the Milbank Memorial Fund and a Trustee of the Institute for International Education. He is a former Director of Aster-Cephac SA, IVAX Corporation, MIST Inc., NBS Technologies Inc. Inc., Sunquest Vacations Limited, Zalev Metals Inc., Zenith Laboratories, Inc. and was board member of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. He currently serves as Chairman of Shred-Tech Corporation. Mr. Gottsegen received an M.B.A. from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and a B.S. from Georgetown University.

"I am delighted to join OSL during such an exciting period of the organization's development. OSL currently enjoys strong relationships with partners like Caramoor and many opportunities for continued growth," said Mr. Gottsegen.

OSL's 26-member Board of Directors also includes Board Chairman Norman S. Benzaquen, Chairman Emeritus M. Bernard Aidinoff, Robert Appel, Robert W. Ashton, Kristin Barbato, Katy Clark, Joseph A. DiMenna, Barbara Feldon, Georgia Frasch, Susan Graham, Charles Grossman (in memoriam), Alden N. Haffner, Helen D. Lally, Steven J. Leifer, Marianne C. Lockwood (Co-Founder and President Emeritus), David Monn, Josie Cruz Natori, Janet Prindle Seidler, Dexter Senft, John S. Tamagni, Alden L. Toevs, William D. Watt and Ruth S. Widder, and three OSL musicians: Joseph Anderer, Stewart Rose and Myron Lutzke.

Jennifer Kessler will lead OSL's longstanding Arts Education program and spearhead efforts to expand educational and community engagement programs in and around OSL's new home, The DiMenna Center for Classical Music. Ms. Kessler will develop the OSL@DMC series-free events at The DiMenna Center that connect audiences to the artistic process of composers and musicians. She will oversee OSL's arts integration curriculum and free concerts for New York City public school students, and she will strategize new ways for the orchestra to connect with diverse communities around New York. Since 1976, OSL's Arts Education program has introduced more than one million students to the beauty and power of the performing arts.

Over the last ten years, Jennifer Kessler has combined an international career as a French horn player with a passion for creating music programs for young people. From unique composition projects with Bang on a Can and the Lucerne Festival, to developmental music classes in NYC homeless shelters, Jennifer has developed multiple programs and partnerships for diverse communities.

In her former position at Carnegie Hall's Weill Music Institute, Jennifer curated workshops for young professional musicians, educators and teaching artists. Jennifer completed a Bachelor of Music at Northwestern University before relocating to Germany to study at the Hanns Eisler Musikhochschule. She has performed with ensembles and festivals including the Berlin Philharmonic, the Lucerne Festival Academy, the Aspen Music Festival and the Israeli Symphony Orchestra Rishon LeZion.

In 2007, Jennifer was invited to assistant teach for El Sistema in Venezuela with members of the Berlin Philharmonic. This experience inspired her to adapt El Sistema in other communities around the world. In 2012, she completed the Sistema Fellows program at the New England Conservatory, where she taught in Venezuela for an extended residency, visited multiple El Sistema-inspired programs in the U.S. and presented on music for social change at conferences at the Los Angeles Philharmonic and at Harvard University.

"I am thrilled to work with Orchestra of St. Luke's in exploring and developing education and community programs that make a positive difference in people's lives. As a renowned ensemble with a home all its own, St. Luke's is in a great position to connect deeply with communities in New York," said Ms. Kessler.