FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media Contacts:
Nick Dobreff, Director of Publicity and Community Relations
616.485.3913 (m) – 303.308.2477 (o)
ndobreff@coloradosymphony.org
COLORADO SYMPHONY ANNOUNCES RETIREMENT OF CEO/BOARD CHAIR JEROME H. KERN
After a collective two decades at the helm, leader sees bright future as secure
September 9, 2021 – Denver, CO – The Colorado Symphony Association (CSA) announces the retirement of Chief Executive Officer and Chair of the Board, Jerome H. Kern as of September 2, 2021. His service with the Colorado Symphony Association has spanned more than twenty years, encompassing two separate terms, including the last eleven seasons stewarding the organization’s leadership efforts. He will be honored as Emeritus Chair of the Board with special recognition at the September 18 opening weekend concerts.
“This is the perfect moment for my retirement because I’m leaving the symphony in the strongest financial position it has ever achieved,” said Mr. Kern.
Mr. Kern added, “I couldn’t have done it without my wife, Dr. Mary Rossick Kern at my side. Mary and I are grateful to all those who helped make it possible, beginning with the Musicians, who never stopped believing and kept playing better and better; to the Senior Staff who were creative and committed to our basic mission of sustaining the future of traditional classical music while developing a broader repertoire to attract a broader audience.”
Mr. Kern’s initial involvement began in the late 1990’s as a community trustee with his wife Mary. Their involvement continued through the mid 2000’s resulting in many successful endeavors including the creation of Symphony on the Rocks summer season series at Red Rocks Amphitheatre and the establishment of the Colorado Symphony Ball — the organization’s most important fundraiser which had raised over $1 million annually. In 2010, the CSA musicians reached out to the Kerns to re-engage with the organization after facing financial woes and the forced cancellation of a portion of the 2011/12 Season. Mr. Kern and Dr. Rossick Kern became Co-Chairs of the Board of Trustees through 2016, after which he assumed the crucial dual roles of CEO and Chair of the Board through 2021.
Kern has been the President of Kern Consulting, LLC since 1997. He joined Moelis & Company in September 2020 as a Senior Advisor.
An acknowledged media veteran and mega-deal maker in complicated, multi-party transactions, Kern served as vice chairman and a member of the board of directors of Tele-Communications, Inc. (TCI). He was the architect of the AT&T/TCI merger, and TCI’s representative in a number of other high-profile mergers and acquisitions, including the Time Warner/Turner Broadcasting merger. Prior to TCI, Kern was a senior partner at Baker & Botts, LLP, where he was the senior corporate lawyer in the New York office. For more than twenty years, he was the principal outside legal counsel to TCI and Liberty Media.
Kern graduated from the New York University School of Law (L.L.B., 1960, cum laude) where he was a Root -Tilden-Kern Scholar and managing editor of the New York University Law Review (1959-60) and was named to the Order of the Coif. He also holds a bachelor’s degree from Columbia University (A.B. 1957). Kern is a member of the board of trustees of the New York University Law Center Foundation, and the Institute for Children’s Mental Disorders.
“Though I may be stepping down from an active leadership role, you’ll be seeing us at many of the concerts this season and beyond,” Stated Kern. “We’ve given so much these past twenty years that there isn’t a thing that could keep us away from this outstanding ensemble and the music they create. It’s important for us to continue to support this wonderful organization and we can relax knowing that our work has helped sustain live music in our community.”
The Colorado Symphony recently announced its 2021/22 Season with the intent to bring full-capacity performances to Boettcher Concert Hall beginning this autumn with facial covering and vaccination requirements.
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CONTACTS:
For more information or to request interviews, please contact:
Nick Dobreff, Director of Publicity and Community Relations
ndobreff@coloradosymphony.org - 303.308.2477 (o)
For high-resolution, downloadable images of the Colorado Symphony, contact: ndobreff@coloradosymphony.org
The 2021/22 Colorado Symphony Season is presented by Bonfils-Stanton Foundation. Support also provided by: The Scientific & Cultural Facilities District (SCFD), United Airlines, and the Colorado Symphony Guild.
TICKETS:
Tickets to Colorado Symphony events are available online at coloradosymphony.org/tickets or by phone at 303.623.7876. The Box Office is open Monday – Friday, 10 a.m. - 6 p.m., and Saturday, 12 p.m. – 6 p.m.
ABOUT THE COLORADO SYMPHONY:
The Colorado Symphony Association is the region’s only full-time professional orchestra committed to artistic excellence and ensuring the future of live, symphonic music. Performing over 150 concerts annually at Boettcher Concert Hall in downtown Denver and across Colorado, your Colorado Symphony is home to eighty full-time musicians, representing more than a dozen nations, and regularly welcomes the most celebrated artists from all genres of music. During the COVID-19 health pandemic, we worked to safely produce over 50 concerts with and without audiences, including: 18 Red Rocks Park and Amphitheatre performances, two large scale virtual community benefit concerts, and dozens of small ensemble concerts performed in numerous outdoor venues like the Denver Performing Arts Complex Galleria, Denver Zoo, and Denver Botanic Gardens. Our virtual #PlayOn campaigns garnered 2 million views between our Virtual Music Hour, Weekly Replay, From Home Concerts, and MusiCurious Instrument Interviews. Recognized as an incubator of innovation, creativity, and excellence, your Colorado Symphony continually expands its through education, outreach, and programming. We partner with the state’s leading musical artists, cultural organizations, corporations, foundations, sports teams, and individuals to expose diverse audiences to the power of symphonic orchestral music. To learn more, visit coloradosymphony.org.