Marie-Helene Bernard is joining the St. Louis Symphony as its president and CEO.
"I am honored to join the St. Louis Symphony and to support this great American treasure,” said Bernard in a news release this morning.
Bernard previously led the nation's oldest continuously performing arts organization, the Handel and Haydn Society in Boston. Bernard will be taking over for past chief executive Fred Bronstein. Bronstein served as the president from 2008 to May of 2014. He left to head one of the country’s top conservatories, the Peabody Institute of The Johns Hopkins University.
“I am delighted in the appointment of Marie-Helene Bernard who will be a wonderful partner in our continued success with the St. Louis Symphony,” said Music Director David Robertson in the news release. “She combines high artistic ideals with a deep knowledge of the profession and a wonderfully open and engaging personality. I’m looking forward to working with her.”
She will take over the position July 1, 2015.
Bernard is a native of Quebec and has played the viola da gamba and Baroque music professionally. According to the Handel and Haydn Society website, she is on the board of Early Music America and has worked with the Philadelphia and Cleveland orchestras. She holds a law degree from the University of Montreal and practiced corporate, tax and international property law. The website also notes that she holds a master's in arts management.
Bernard will appear on St. Louis Public Radio's "Cityscape" program this Friday, Feb. 13 at noon.
