Kathleen van Bergen

President and CEO, Philharmonic Center for the Arts

B.A., Violin Performance, Eastman School of Music

M.B.A., Tuck School of Business, Dartmouth College

Kathleen van Bergen became the president and CEO of the Philharmonic Center for the Arts on September 1, 2011. Prior to joining the Phil, Ms. van Bergen served for more than three years as artistic and executive director of the Shubert Club, in St. Paul, MN, one of the country’s oldest and most respected cultural institutions.  She previously worked for two of the country’s leading orchestras: the Philadelphia Orchestra, where she was vice president of artistic planning, and the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, where she was vice president and director of artistic administration.

During her three years with the Philadelphia Orchestra, van Bergen worked collaboratively with Music Director Christoph Eschenbach, the orchestra’s artistic advisory committee and its management team to guide the artistic direction and programming decisions for all concerts. The orchestra toured Europe, Asia and the United States during van Bergen’s tenure and produced nine recordings.

At the St. Symphony Orchestra, where van Bergen worked more than five years, she rose quickly to vice president and director of artistic administration, the top administrative artistic position. During her tenure, the orchestra received and matched a $40 million endowment gift, reduced the artistic planning budget by 50%, reprioritized programming and hired David Robertson as music director.

A native of Andover, N.J., Ms. van Bergen holds a bachelor’s degree in violin performance from the Eastman School of Music and an executive master of business administration degree from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College. She began playing the violin at age 4 and music has been a central part of her life ever since. Van Bergen frequently speaks on artistic planning and the role of the arts in our communities.