Leadership
KAREN ZORN,
President, Longy School of Music of Bard College; Vice President, Bard College
JUDITH BOSE, Dean
JEREMY VAN BUSKIRK, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs
TYLER REECE, Assistant Dean of Enrollment and Student Services
ANN WELCH, Chief Operating Officer
JOHN GALVIN, Chief Financial Officer
ALLISON COOLEY, Chief Development Officer
BOARD OF GOVERNORS
KAREN ZORN,
President, Longy School of Music of Bard College
Vice President, Bard College
There was one overwhelming reason Karen Zorn accepted the position of President of the Longy School of Music in 2007. The school’s newly adopted mission—“to prepare students to make a difference in the world”—was unlike that of any other conservatory in the world. The mission suggested a fundamentally different approach to music education. And it offered a radically different view of the kind of work that Longy students might seek, create, and engage in after graduation.
Fulfilling Longy’s mission
In pursuit of this mission, Zorn has led Longy through a dramatic transformation. A fearless educational entrepreneur, Zorn has established partnerships, programs, and initiatives that have permanently altered the school’s trajectory and positioned it as a leader in equitable music education.
She executed the pivotal merger with Bard College in 2012 and has since established numerous strategic partnerships with organizations such as the Los Angeles Philharmonic, FundaMusical of Venezuela (El Sistema), the Music for Healing and Transition Program, and countless Sistema-inspired programs across the country. Zorn cofounded Take a Stand, a collaboration between Longy, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and Bard College, and launched the Master of Arts in Teaching degree program in Los Angeles—the first-ever degree program to be offered in conjunction with a major orchestra.
In 2013, she established the Longy Sistema Side-by-Side program on the school’s Cambridge campus, bringing high quality music education to hundreds of students from under-resourced communities throughout the northeast, and offering hands-on teaching and mentorship opportunities for conservatory musicians. Recognizing the immense impact of this program, Zorn expanded musical education opportunities at the school, opening a Master of Music in Music Education degree program in 2020.
Soon after assuming leadership of Longy, Zorn realized that preparing students to make a difference in the world would require a radically different kind of music education. During Zorn’s tenure at Longy, the school entirely redesigned its curriculum to ignite students’ agency, eschewing traditional requirements to offer practical tools for a variety of careers in music.
Longy has pioneered a new coaching program, empowering each student to create their own individualized path in school and beyond. In 2017, Longy launched the Music as a Healing Art program, which offers students the chance to bring their talent to a diverse array of hospitals, elder care facilities, and transitional housing centers. In 2019, under Zorn’s leadership, Longy spearheaded a multi-year Diversity in Repertoire initiative which requires at least 25% of all repertoire studied and performed at Longy to be written by composers of historically underrepresented identities in classical music. Longy implemented an overhaul of the undergraduate theory curriculum to decenter the Western white male frame. In 2021, Longy piloted the school’s first fully online Master of Music in Music Education degree, expanding access to culturally responsive music education globally.
To provide meaningful professional experience for Longy’s students, Zorn has helped Longy forge numerous partnerships with artistic organizations including A Far Cry, Boston Camerata, Boston Early Music Festival, Boston Opera Collaborative, Castle of Our Skins, Celebrity Series Boston, the Imagine Orchestra, and the New Gallery Concert Series, among many others. She has spearheaded numerous opportunities for Longy students to teach and perform in public schools, community centers, prisons, and other external venues where the traditions of music education can contribute to public life.
Zorn is an active teacher, guest speaker for keynote addresses, and frequent consultant for arts organizations and other non-profits on matters of creative artistry, curricular innovation, and leadership. She appears annually at the Verbier Festival, where she teaches courses on artistic innovation and audience engagement. She has taught of the Banff Artist Residency Program, Carnegie Hall, and has been a member of the faculties of Berklee, MacPhail Center for the Arts, and the University of Missouri, Kansas City.
Zorn has held positions on the Boards of the Community Music Center of Boston, The Creativity Foundation, and the Frances Clark Center for Keyboard Pedagogy. In 2014, she was recognized Musical America’s Profiles in Courage.
Prior to her tenure at Longy, Zorn served as Associate Provost at Berklee College of Music, where she forged a global network of partnerships with organizations including the Royal Academy of Music in London, the Rimsky-Korsakov Saint Petersburg State Conservatory, and the Sorbonne Université. She held the roles of Acting Director and Director of Instruction at MacPhail Center for the Arts in Minneapolis.
A Wisconsin native and Boston resident, Zorn is herself a classically trained musician, having been educated as a pianist at Goshen College in Indiana and later receiving a master’s degree in piano performance at the University of Missouri, Kansas City.
JUDITH BOSE, Dean
Judith Bose comes to Longy having worked as an independent arts education consultant with decades of experience specializing in curriculum development and the intersection of cultural organizations, schools, teachers and teaching artists. She has worked with WolfBrown arts research firm on various projects, including the first ever evaluation of El Sistema-inspired programs in the U.S.; as Creative Education Director for the Vermont Community Engagement Lab; as Community Engagement Consultant with From the Top; and as a student in the Music for Healing and Transition ProgramTM (MHTP).
An active soprano in the Boston area, Dr. Bose previously served as the Director of Teacher Education and Educational Initiatives at Longy, where she helped to develop an innovative Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) Music degree program and led the Teaching Artist Program. Dr. Bose has also taught Teaching Artistry on the faculty of the Peabody Conservatory of Johns Hopkins University. In New York, she was a master music teaching artist at the Lincoln Center Institute and the New York Philharmonic for ten years, and she has worked with numerous schools and cultural organizations both nationally and internationally.
JEREMY VAN BUSKIRK, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs
In addition to serving as Longy’s Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, Jeremy Van Buskirk teaches Composition and Theory and Computer Music. Recent performances of his large ensemble music have included concerts in Carnegie Hall and Chicago Symphony Center. A native of Lockport, New York, Jeremy’s early musical training began with piano and saxophone. Although, life changed forever at age 12 when he picked up a bass guitar and discovered his passion for writing and improvising music. Jeremy has a passion for electroacoustic music pedagogy. To this end, he has developed several software applications designed to teach electroacoustic music composition.
TYLER REECE, Assistant Dean of Enrollment and Student Services
Tyler Reece is an Assistant Dean and Vocal Studies faculty, after serving as Director of Admissions and Student Services at Longy. Originally from Aspen, Colorado, he graduated with his Bachelor of Arts from Luther College, then went on to earn his Master of Music and Doctorate of Musical Arts from the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) on a full fellowship with a teaching assistantship. As a baritone, he is equally at home on the recital and opera stage, particularly focused on the intersection of gender, sexual identity, and the evolution of performance practices in classical vocal music.
ANN WELCH, Chief Operating Officer
Ann Welch joined Longy in 2013 and became Chief Operating Officer in 2016. Over her tenure, Ann has overseen Longy’s strategic plan, shaping curricular and programmatic innovation to transform conservatory education. In addition to developing and teaching Longy’s entrepreneurship program, Ann serves on the design teams for key initiatives. She has held several roles at Longy, including Director of Strategic Initiatives and Acting Chief Financial Officer. With oversight of the Operations team, Ann has functional responsibility for the business office, human resources, labor relations, facilities, and IT.
Ann’s career prioritized the arts and nonprofit sector for nearly twenty years. She served as Director of Development for the Austin Film Society (TX), and as an Executive Director at CCS, providing development consulting and capital campaign management to education, healthcare, and cultural nonprofits in New York and Georgia. Ann has an MBA from the Yale School of Management and BA from Vassar College.
JOHN GALVIN, Chief Financial Officer
John started at Longy in the May of 2015 as the Director of Finance and in the following year was elevated to senior staff as the Chief Financial Officer. As a finance professional, John has 30 years of experience in both the corporate and higher education sectors. Prior to joining Longy, John served as a Finance Director at both Curry College and Boston College where his responsibilities were primarily focused on Financial Planning & Analysis, Payroll and Procurement. A native of Massachusetts, John holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from the University of Rochester and a Master of Business Administration from Boston University. John and his wife Susan are residents of Needham.
ALLISON COOLEY, Chief Development Officer
Allison Cooley joined the senior leadership team of Longy School of Music of Bard College in March 2020 as its Chief Development Officer. Previously, she held the position of Senior Individual Giving Officer at the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Ms. Cooley studied vocal performance and music education at Ithaca College before receiving her master’s degree in Arts Administration at Teachers College/Columbia University. She has worked at arts and cultural organizations including the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History, American Museum of Natural History, Museum of Jewish Heritage and Boston Youth Symphony Orchestras.
BOARD OF GOVERNORS
JO FRANCES MEYER, Chair of the Board of Governors
Jo Frances Meyer joined Puddingstone Consulting and the Connors Family Office in November 2019 as a Director, working closely with Jack Connors and Sharon McNally on a number of strategic business and philanthropic projects. Prior to her current position, she served as Executive Director of Boston Landmarks Orchestra from 2015–2019. She served as Director of Development for Rockport Music from 2011–2014; Senior Development Associate for Women’s Health at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, working with Dr. Paula A. Johnson from 2008–2011. From 1999–2006, Meyer served as Director of Institutional Giving for the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Prior to her 20-plus years in philanthropy, Meyer practiced law in the areas of health care law and policy at Mintz, Levin in Boston, and commercial litigation at Peabody & Brown (now Nixon Peabody LLP). A graduate of Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government with a Master in Public Administration in 1994, Meyer also holds a law degree from Suffolk University Law School (1982) and a Bachelor of Science in Journalism from Boston University’s School of Public Communication (1976). In addition to serving on the Longy School of Music Board of Governors, Meyer also serves as a Trustee at the Schwartz Center for Compassionate Healthcare, and as a member of the Board of Advisors for the American Repertory Theater, Boston Landmarks Orchestra, Boston Lyric Opera, and Lyric Stage Company.
GARTH GREIMANN, Vice Chair
DWIGHT “WIN” QUAYLE, Secretary
ROLAND AUGUSTINE
WILLIAM C. BANFIELD
SANDRA BAKALAR
+ LEON BOTSTEIN, President, Bard College
WAYMAN CHIN
GENE D. DAHMEN
HARRIET E. GRIESINGER
MICHAEL GULESERIAN
MATINA HORNER
VIRGINIA MEANY
DONALD W. SCHROEDER
DEBORAH SMITH
ROBERT B. STRAUS
JEANNETTE H. TAYLOR
+ TAUN TOAY, Chief Financial Officer, Bard College
+ ANN WELCH, Chief Operating Officer, Longy School of Music of Bard College
+ KAREN ZORN, President, Longy School of Music of Bard College; Vice President, Bard College
(+ ex-officio)