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National Advisory Council

Meet Our National Advisory Council

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Marcy Carsey

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ABOUT

Emmy winner MARCY CARSEY, named one of the 50 greatest women in radio and television, is partner and co-founder of the largest and arguably one of the most successful independent studios in television history, Carsey-Werner. The Carsey-Werner Company is responsible for, among others, The Cosby Show, Third Rock from the Sun, and Roseanne. Ms. Carsey is a part-time resident of Santa Barbara, and owns the folk art store in Summerland. As a student, she played piccolo, and became a major donor to the Music Academy of the West in 2008.

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Jeremy Geffen

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JEREMY GEFFEN, who for the past 12 years was director of artistic planning at Carnegie Hall, is now the executive and artistic director of Cal Performances, the arts producer and presenter at the University of California, Berkeley. At Carnegic Hall, his responsibilities included program planning and development, as well as the creation of a wide range of audience education programs. Prior to his appointment at Carnegie Hall, Jeremy was vice president of artistic administration for the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra (2005–2007) and artistic administrator of the New York Philharmonic (2000–2005). In addition, he worked for the Aspen Music Festival and School as associate artistic administrator from 1998 to 2000. During that time, he also taught courses in music at Colorado Mountain College, hosted a weekly classical music radio show on KAJX, and became the Aspen Institute’s youngest-ever moderator, creating and leading the seminar The Marriage of Music and Ideas with Dr. Alberta Arthurs in February and March 2000.

Jeremy served on the advisory entities for both the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center’s CMS Two and the Avery Fisher Career Grant. He has also served as an adjudicator for numerous auditions and competitions, including the jury of the 2015 Honens Prize, 2011 Wigmore Hall / Kohn Foundation International Song Competition, the nominating jury for the 2012 Pulitzer Prize in Music, and Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. In addition, he chaired the nominating jury for the 2013 Pulitzer Prize in Music.

A native of Cape Town, South Africa, Jeremy was raised in Newport Beach, California. While pursuing a bachelor of music degree in viola performance at the University of Southern California, Jeremy developed problems with his right hand that led him away from performance and into artistic programming, which combines his curiosity for and love of the breadth of the classical repertoire, as well as the artists who bring that repertoire to life.

Mr. Geffen was a viola fellow at the Music Academy of the West in 1993 and 1994.

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Gregg Gleasner

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GREGG GLEASNER is the President of GleasnerMusic, an independent artistic services firm offering leadership and guidance to orchestras, festivals, and performing arts organizations.

Acknowledged as an arts leader in the international cultural community, Gregg has spent thirty-five years in the classical music industry. In addition to his long association with the Music Academy of the West, Gregg has worked with numerous orchestras and art organizations including the New York Philharmonic, Cleveland Orchestra, Dallas Symphony, Houston Symphony, Indianapolis Symphony and Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra since forming GleasnerMusic in 2011. He has served four times on the Dublin (Ireland) International Piano Competition jury.

Gregg served as Director of Artistic Planning for the San Francisco Symphony from 1991-2011. Partnering with Music Director Michael Tilson Thomas, he implemented an artistic vision which has been recognized throughout the world as singular and unique. Prior to San Francisco, Gregg was Vice President and Artists’ Manager for eleven years at Columbia Artists, New York.

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Ara Guzelimian

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NATIONAL ADVISORY COUNCIL

ARA GUZELIMIAN has been named Artistic Director of the Ojai Music Festival, beginning with the 2021 Festival, and previously served as Provost and Dean of The Juilliard School from 2006-2019, where he worked closely with the President in overseeing the faculty, curriculum and artistic planning of the distinguished performing arts conservatory in all three of its divisions – dance, drama and music.

Prior to these appointments, he was Senior Director and Artistic Advisor of Carnegie Hall (1998 – 2006). He previously held the positions of Artistic Administrator of the Aspen Music Festival and School in Colorado (1993 - 1998), Artistic Director of the Ojai Festival in California (1992 - 1997), and Artistic Administrator of the Los Angeles Philharmonic (1986 – 1993). He currently serves on the Music Visiting Committee of the Morgan Library and Museum in New York City. This year, he serves on the jury of the 2016 Mahler Conducting Competition in Bamberg, Germany.

Mr. Guzelimian has lectured at the Metropolitan Opera, the Salzburg Easter Festival, Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, and the Jerusalem Music Center, where he was on the faculty of the 2000 International Chamber Music Encounter, led by Isaac Stern. He is editor of Parallels and Paradoxes: Explorations in Music and Society (Pantheon Books, 2002), a collection of dialogues between Daniel Barenboim and Edward Said.

In September 2003, Mr. Guzelimian was awarded the title Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres by the French government for his contributions to French music and culture.

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Mark Newbanks

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MARK NEWBANKS serves as managing director of Fidelio Arts Limited, a London-based, worldwide boutique agency specialising in artist management, touring, and the development of media projects. The company’s current artist roster includes Gustavo Dudamel, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Lionel Bringuier & Yuja Wang. Mr. Newbanks previously worked as an artist manager at Konzertdirektion Schmid, served as general manager of the Camerata Academica in Salzburg, Austria, and oversaw concert productions for IMG Artists in New York, among other positions. Immediately prior to founding Fidelio Arts Limited, Mr. Newbanks served as a senior artist manager, director, and board member for Askonas Holt Limited, London.

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Chad Smith

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CHAD SMITH, CEO for the Los Angeles Philharmonic Association, will transition to the role of President and CEO of the Boston Symphony Orchestra in early Fall 2023.

Previously at the LA Phil, Chad held the position of Chief Operating Officer, where he was responsible for the artistic oversight and coordination of the orchestra’s programming, as well as the organization’s production, orchestra operations, media, and educational initiatives.  Working closely with Music Directors Esa-Pekka Salonen and now Gustavo Dudamel, Smith’s tenure with the orchestra has been defined by ground-breaking artistic initiatives, including the launch of new orchestral series, major multi-disciplinary projects, dozens of festivals, and an unparalleled commitment to composers and the music of today. He has also overseen the launch of many of the organization’s defining educational programs, including YOLA, a program which has provided daily after-school music training to thousands of children in several of LA’s most underserved communities.

Smith first joined the LA Phil in 2002, where he was responsible for planning the orchestra’s Green Umbrella new music series, as well as its classical programming at the Hollywood Bowl.  After briefly serving as the New York Philharmonic’s head artistic planner, in 2006 he returned to the LA Phil in the expanded role of Vice-President of Artistic Planning, a position he held until being named COO in 2015.

Smith began his career in 2000 at the New World Symphony, working closely with conductor Michael Tilson Thomas.  He currently serves on the advisory board of the Music Academy of the West and is a member of the Executive Committee for the Avery Fisher Artist Program. A native of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, he earned a B.A. in European history from Tufts University, as well as B.M. and M.M. degrees in vocal performance from the New England Conservatory.

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Tracy K. Smith

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The 2017 U.S. poet laureate teaches creative writing at Princeton University and hosts American Public Media's daily radio program and podcast The Slowdown.

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