The Artists

Grammy nominee, born in Mexico City and currently based out of New York City, Magos Herrera is a dazzling jazz singer-songwriter, producer, and educator. Magos is regarded as one of the most expressive, beautiful voices and most active vocalists in the contemporary Latin American jazz scene. She is best known for her eloquent vocal improvisation and her singular bold style, which embraces elements of contemporary jazz with Latin American melodies and rhythms singing in Spanish, English, and Portuguese, in a style that elegantly blends and surpasses language boundaries. She has recorded six solo albums, has worked on joint collaborations for two more albums with producer Javier Limón in addition to having participated as a guest artist on several recordings and albums. An accomplished artist, Magos has performed in a variety of leading international cultural venues such as Lincoln Center in NYC, Kennedy Center in DC, Palacio de Bellas Artes in Mexico City, Círculo de Bellas Artes in Madrid, Union Chapel in London, Duc des Lombardes in Paris, Kamani Auditorium in Delhi, Palau de la Musica in Valencia, and has been part of the line-up of some of the most memorable jazz festivals around the world including Montreux Jazz Festival, Montreal Jazz Festival, Festival Internacional Cervantino, to mention a few.   Throughout her career, Magos has garnered important awards and recognitions, including a Grammy short-list nomination in the Best Jazz Vocal Album category for her album Distancia (2009), and is the only female artist to have received the Berklee College of Music's Master of Latin Music Award. She is well known for championing women's causes and currently serves as spokesperson for UN Women, and has contributed to important campaigns including UNITE to end violence against women and He For She, as a promoter of gender equality. She is an advisor for the Mexican Government Cultural Diplomatic Counsel,  serves as an artistic advisor of the "National Sawdust" and is a recipient of Chamber Music Americas New Jazz works 2020 Award.

Paola Prestini has collaborated with poets, filmmakers, and scientists in large-scale multimedia works that chart her interest in extra-musical themes ranging from the cosmos to the environment. Her compositions have been commissioned and performed at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, Barbican Centre, Cannes Film Festival, Carnegie Hall, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, The Kennedy Center, Los Angeles Philharmonic, and the Los Angeles Opera, among others. She created the largest communal VR opera with The Hubble Cantata, was part of the New York Philharmonic’s legendary Project 19 initiative, and has written and produced large scale projects like the eco-documentary The Colorado narrated by Mark Rylance (premiered and commissioned by the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Houston Da Camera Series) and the lauded opera theater work Aging Magician (premiered and commissioned by the Walker Arts Center and the Krannert Center, with performances at ASU, the New Victory Theater and San Diego Opera).

Prestini is known for her genre- and glass ceiling-breaking roles, including being the first woman in the New Works Initiative with her grand opera Edward Tulane (Minnesota Opera), and bringing artificial intelligence and disability visibility/impact together in the chamber opera Sensorium Ex (Atlanta Opera and Beth Morrison Projects for the Prototype Festival). Her upcoming works include piano concertos for Awadagin Pratt and A Far Cry, and Lara Downes with the Louisville Symphony, Oregon Bach Festival, and The Ravinia Festival.

She is the co-founder and artistic director of the Brooklyn based arts institution and incubator, National Sawdust, and as part of her commitment to the next generation and equity, she started the Hildegard Competition for emerging female, trans, and non-binary composers and the Blueprint Fellowship for emerging composers with The Juilliard School. She was a Paul and Daisy Soros Fellow and a Sundance Fellow, has been in residence at the Park Avenue Armory and MASS MoCA, and was a graduate of the Juilliard School.

Ashley Tata, director, creates multimedia works of theater, contemporary opera, performance, cyberformance, live music, and immersive experiences. These have been presented in venues and festivals throughout the US and internationally including Theatre for a New Audience, LA Opera, Austin Opera, Miller Theater, National Sawdust, EMPAC, BPAC, Crossing the Line Festival, Holland Festival, Prelude Festival, National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing, and the Fisher Center at Bard. These works have been called “fervently inventive,” by Ben Brantley in The New York Times, “extraordinarily powerful” by the Los Angeles Times and Tata’s staging of Kate Soper’s Ipsa Dixit was named a “notable production of the decade” by Alex Ross of The New Yorker. Since the pandemic-induced theatrical shut down, Tata has conceived and directed a live cyberformance of Caryl Churchill’s Mad Forest which transferred from Bard College’s Fisher Center to TFANA Off-Broadway; a Zoom-accessed Virtual Nightclub and dance party called The Boot with Beth Morrison Projects; a music video for rock band Sylvan Esso; a physically-distanced adherent, landscape-integrating adaptation of John Luther Adams’s Ten Thousand Birds with ensemble Alarm Will Sound at PS21 in Chatham, NY; and the live performance webcasting of "Out of the Silence" Bard Music Festival's 2020 concert series. Tata is currently in residence at Coffey Street Studios working on the first phases of a number of projects including an exploration of works by playwright and novelist Chana Porter and two multi-media "opera" works for music, Crown Poppea! A music-video-electronic-sample-remix-opera (after Monteverdi) re-scored by Ted Hearne and featuring Eliza Bagg and a virtual reality opera about the time code of trees. Working title, Virtual RealiTree it is being created in collaboration with interdisciplinary, cross-platform composer/designer/artists, Eliza Bagg, Afsoon Pajoufar, Sadah Espii Proctor, Booker Stardrum and Aoshuang Zhang. Elements of these and other projects continue to build on an investigation of live-streaming technologies with partners at Liminal Entertainment and designer/director Eamonn Farrell. These explorations will continue into the spring when Tata takes up residency at Brooklyn Academy of Music as one of the members of the inaugural artist in residence cohort they have named for the 20/21 season.

After earning an MFA in directing from Columbia University Tata has taught or been a guest artist at Columbia University, Mannes School of Music, Harvard University, MIT, A.C.T., Marymount Manhattan College, Colgate College, Bard College, and LIU Post. Member of Lincoln Center Theater’s Directors’ Lab; recipient of the Lotos Foundation's Emerging Artist Award in Arts and Sciences, and a winner of the 2017 Robert L. B. Tobin Director/Designer grant.

Kevork Mourad employs his technique of live drawing and animation in concert with musicians – developing a collaboration in which art and music harmonize with one another. Collaborators include Yo-Yo Ma, Kim Kashkashian, the Los Angeles Master Chorale, Brooklyn Rider, The Knights, Perspectives Ensemble, Paola Prestini, and Kinan Azmeh and he has performed in many institutions, including The Aga Khan Museum (Toronto), The Art Institute of Chicago, The American Museum of Natural History, The Brooklyn Museum of Art, The Bronx Museum of Art, Carnegie Hall, ElbPhilharmonie (Germany), Rhode Island School of Design, Nara Museum (Japan), Lincoln Center Atrium, the Metropolitan Museum of Art and The Walt Disney Concert Hall.

Born in Qamishli, Syria, Mourad now lives and works in New York City. He received his Master of Fine Arts from the Yerevan Institute of Fine Arts in Armenia. Mourad has been a resident teaching artist at Brandeis University, Harvard University, and Holy Cross (Worcester). He is the only visual artist member in Yo-Yo Ma’s Silk Road Ensemble and is featured in the film “Music of Strangers” (2016).

Recent commissions include Israel in Egypt, for the Los Angeles Master Chorale, Sound of Stone to accompany the exhibition “Armenia!” for the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Well Wish Ya, a dance performance piece with the OYO Dance Troupe in Namibia. His performance, Home Within, co-produced with clarinetist Kinan Azmeh, has toured the world. The 2016 recipient of the Robert Bosch Stiftung Film Prize, his animated film 4 Acts for Syria made its 2019 premiere at the Stuttgart Animation Festival. He was recently asked by the Aga Khan Foundation to create a site-specific 20-foot drawing-sculpture called Seeing Through Babel, at London’s Ismaili Center, addressing the importance of diversity in our contemporary times.

Uniform yet individual, gentle yet robust, precise yet free-flowing - this versality is what Sjaella's sound is all about. The six singers joined forces many moons ago and continue to discover new ways to diversify their sound. They are open to new influences, love musical diversity and have the courage to challenge barriers. They are comfortable with their wide-ranging repertoire which comprises various genres. This very diversity coupled with the close relationship the group has with their fans has paved the way, for many years, for Sjaella’s participation in renowned music festivals both domestic and overseas and have been awarded first prizes at international vocal music competitions.

Constellation Chor is a vocal performance ensemble comprising composers, singers, dancers and actors, and founded by music-theatre and interdisciplinary choral composer Marisa Michelson. 

The ensemble performs internationally and in New York City, and has expanded organically into the NYC new music community, making their Lincoln Center debut premiering Ashley Fure’s Filament with the New York Philharmonic and Jaap van Zweden in September 2018, and making their Kitchen debut premiering Sarah Hennies’ piece with Claire Chase in March 2019. Since 2016, Constellation Chor has been in residence at the historic Judson Memorial Church, engaging at the intersection of singing, movement, deep listening and music-theatre. They perform interdisciplinary pieces composed by Michelson, as well as collaborating with other composers, choreographers, directors, and mindfulness practitioners. They are currently also in residence at Spectrum in Brooklyn, where they perform monthly.

Currently, the Chor is performing monthly in residency at Spectrum in NYC. 

The Young People’s Chorus of New York City (YPC) is recognized worldwide for its award-winning performances and spectacular artistry. But the chorus grew out of humble beginnings. It all started with Francisco J. Núñez, a young piano prodigy in Washington Heights whose life was profoundly changed by music. Through his musical talent, he met and socialized with children with the same musical interests, but from different cultural and economic backgrounds.

He learned from them, and they learned from him. Inspired by this childhood experience, Núñez created a children’s chorus based on diversity, using music as the unifying force to engage and teach its choristers. By founding YPC, Núñez fulfilled his dream of bringing together children from all walks of life to make beautiful music and friendships, creating new opportunities and a brighter future for thousands of YPC children and their communities.

The Orquesta Sinfónica de Minería is a non-profit civil association that was constituted by a group of Mexican university students, who voluntarily take on the noble mission of fostering and cultivating musical culture, one of the most beautiful expressions of art, forming the Symphonic Orchestra of Mining , an artistic body that is considered a first-rate group.

From that moment on, the participation of the Rector of the National Autonomous University of Mexico, as Honorary President, and of the Director of the Faculty of Engineering, as Honorary Vice President, has been a tradition.

It is important to highlight the great trajectory of continuous work, in which it has always distinguished itself for the quality and execution of its programs, with the participation of world-class soloists, guest conductors and choral groups. Mexican and foreign composers have made works for the group, some expressly commissioned and others more as a symbol of their affection for it.

Multi instrumentalist Gonzalo Grau began his musical studies at the age of three in Caracas. Along his musical journey he developed skills in many instruments, from the viola da gamba and the cello to the flamenco cajón and his principal instrument, the piano.

A Berklee College Suma Cum Laude, Gonzalo has established himself as a multi-instrumentalist and his varied credits include performances with Venezuelan music projects like Maroa, Schola Cantorum de Venezuela, Camerata de Caracas and the Simón Bolivar National Youth Orchestra, jazz icon Maria Schneider and the Latin jazz giant Timbalaye. As a music director he leads two projects of his own, "Plural" (Latin jazz-Flamenco-Venezuelan fusion) and "La Clave Secreta" (salsa fusion), nominated for the 2008 Grammys in the Best Tropical Album category. As a recording artist, Grau has participated in over eighty productions that bridge both classical and popular music worlds.

Wearing his composer and arranger hat, his achievements include composition collaborations alongside Osvaldo Golijov for the opera Ainadamar and La Pasión Según San Marcos. Original works include the overture Pregunta y Respuesta commissioned by the Atlanta Symphony (premiered in March 2008), Café con Pan, commissioned by the Chicago Symphony for the MusicNow concert series (premiered in November 2008), Nazareno (suite for two pianos and full orchestra), commissioned by pianists Katia & Marielle Labeque (premiered in January 2010), the oratorio Aqua, commissioned by the Bach Academy International, winner of the European Composer Award 2011, award given by the Young Euro Classic Festival in Berlin (premiered in August 2011); Viaje, fantasia for full-orchestra and "Latin ensemble", commissioned by the Boston Landmarks Orchestra (premiered in June 2012), and Fantasía de Guayaba Habanera, violin concerto commisioned by Johnny Gandelsman and the Community MusicWorks (premiered in May 2013).

Jeffrey Zeigler is one of the most innovative and versatile cellists of our time. He has been described as “fiery”, and a player who performs “with unforced simplicity and beauty of tone” by the New York Times. Acclaimed for his independent streak, Zeigler has commissioned dozens of works, and is admired as a potent collaborator and unique improviser. Zeigler is the recipient of the Avery Fisher Prize, the Polar Music Prize, the President’s Merit Award from the National Academy of Recorded Arts (Grammy’s), the Chamber Music America National Service Award and The Asia Society's Cultural Achievement Award.

Zeigler’s multifaceted career has led to collaborations and tours with a wide array of artists from Yo-Yo Ma and Tanya Tagaq to Philip Glass and Hauschka, and from John Zorn and John Corigliano to Laurie Anderson and Siddhartha Mukherjee. He has also performed as a soloist with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Royal Danish Radio Symphony and the Ulster Orchestra under the batons of JoAnn Falletta, Dennis Russell Davies, Peter Oundjian and Dmitry Sitkovetsky. 

Hailed as “intensely soulful” and a “virtuoso” by The New York Times and “spellbinding” by The New Yorker, Winner of Opus Klassik award in 2019 clarinetist and composer Kinan Azmeh has gained international recognition for what the CBC has called his “incredibly rich sound” and his distinctive compositional voice across diverse musical genres.

Originally from Damascus, Syria, Kinan Azmeh brings his music to all corners of the world as a soloist, composer and improviser. Notable appearances include the Opera Bastille, Paris; Tchaikovsky Grand Hall, Moscow; Carnegie Hall and the UN General Assembly, New York; the Royal Albert hall, London; Teatro Colon, Buenos Aires; Der Philharmonie, Berlin; the Library of Congress, the Kennedy Center, Washington DC; the Mozarteum, Salzburg, Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie; and in his native Syria at the opening concert of the Damascus Opera House.

He has appeared as a soloist with the New York Philharmonic, the Seattle Symphony, the Bavarian Radio Orchestra, the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra, the Qatar Philharmonic and the Syrian Symphony Orchestra among others, and has shared the stage with such musical luminaries as Yo-Yo Ma, Marcel Khalife, Aynur, Daniel Barenboim, and Jivan Gasparian.

In 1985, Romero Lubambo came to the United States, and brought with him a new sound in Brazilian jazz guitar.

Romero's guitar playing unites the styles and rhythms of his native Brazilian musical heritage with his fluency in the American jazz tradition to form a distinctive new sound.

From the cool, sophisticated rhythms of his native Brazil to hard bop, Romero is a guitarist who's comfortable in any musical setting. He is an uncommonly gifted soloist and musical improviser with a steady stream of unpredictably creative musical thoughts and the virtuosity to deliver them.

After arriving in New York City, Romero quickly established himself as a "first call" session and touring guitarist who was in demand not only for his authentic Brazilian sound, but also for his command with a variety of styles.

Lubambo has performed and recorded with many outstanding artists, including Dianne Reeves, Michael Brecker, Yo-Yo Ma, Kathleen Battle, Diana Krall, Herbie Mann, Wynton Marsalis, Gal Costa, Kurt Elling, Kenny Barron, Luciana Souza, Cyro Baptista, Sergio and Odair Assad, Ivan Lins, Grover Washington Jr., Vernon Reid, Flora Purim and Airto, Paquito D'Rivera, Harry Belafonte, Larry Coryell, Gato Barbieri, Leny Andrade, James Carter, Paula Robison, Dave Weckl, Jason Miles, and Cesar Camargo Mariano... among many others.

Guitarist and composer Vinicius Gomez launched his first entirely authorial album, "Resilience", in 2017, dedicated to fusing the Brazilian universe with modern jazz.

He has performed with important composers and performers, such as Zizi Possi (with whom he acts as guitarist and arranger in the show "À Flor da Pele"), Rosa Passos, Jane Duboc, Arthur Verocai and Oswaldinho do Acordeon, as well as names of instrumental music such as Toninho Ferragutti (with whom he recorded the album "A Gata Café", winner of the Brazilian Music Award 2017), Thiago Espirito Santo, Robertinho Silva and Mestrinho. He has also worked with orchestras such as OSESP and Jazz Sinfônica de SP.

He holds a master's degree from ECA / USP, where he wrote the work "Helio Delmiro - Compositions for Solo Guitar", winner of PROAC 2015 in the instrumental music category.

He has been participating in several authorial works in Brazilian instrumental music with musicians such as Daniel de Paula, Guilherme Ribeiro, Rafael Abdalla and Alexandre Silverio, besides being one of the leaders of the KVAR group.

He has performed at festivals such as: International Jazz Festival of Buenos Aires (ARG), Jazz Festival of Capão (Chapada Diamantina - BA), Jazz a La Calle (Mercedes - Uruguay), Bourbon Street Festival (Paraty - RJ), FIMUPA (Belém - PA) La Plata Jazz Festival (ARG), Garanhuns Festival (PE), SESC Jazz & Blues (SP). He also performed in Finland, Sweden and Colombia.

Diego Schissi was born in Buenos Aires, in 1969. His musical studies took place at the Conservatorio Nacional Carlos López Buchardo and the University of Miami. He studied piano with Susana Agrest, Ana Cigarrán and Ana Stampalia, and harmony and counterpoint with Daniel Montes, Manolo Juárez and Oscar Edelstein.

Between 1989 and 1996, he lived and studied in the United States, where he had the chance to perform with many greats, including Tito Puente, Néstor Torres, María Schneider, Peter Nero and the Boston Pops. Back in Buenos Aires, he received a scholarship from the National Fund for the Arts.

In 2000 he was chosen as a member of the first line-up of the orchestra of Emilio Balcarce tango school, with which he travelled to Paris and performed at the Théâtre National de Chaillot, and recorded the album De contrapunto (EPSA, 2000). He co-founded the legendary Quinteto Urbano, ensemble which recorded three albums and received the Platinum Konex award. Diego has composed music for numerous films and plays. In 2008 he released his first solo album, Tren (EPSA), with a double quartet line-up.

At present he performs with his quintet, which features Guillermo Rubino on violin, Santiago Segret on bandoneon, Ismael Grossman on guitar and Juan Pablo Navarro on double bass. Guests: Juan Martín de Urquiza on trompet and Martín Pantyrer on clarón.
He has been teaching private lessons uninterruptedly since 1996. He is a founding member of the project Tango Contempo.

Eamonn Farrell is a Virginia-based theater maker and video designer. His work is focused on investigating how innovative technologies can support and elevate the work of live performers to create unforgettable experiences. With his Brooklyn-based theatre company, Anonymous Ensemble, he has created dozens of original, media-infused shows, installations, and live webcasts in New York City and around the world. Notable productions include: The Best (Ice Factory Festival, Brisbane International Festival), Wanderlust (Edinburgh Fringe, UK Tour, Norway Tour), The Return (Theatro Chora, Theatro Roes), The Turing Opera (Greek National Opera, National Sawdust), LIEBE LOVE AMOUR! (HERE, Prelude, Duke, Wesleyan, The New Ohio), I Land (NC Stage, Princeton, Incubator Arts), Ship of Fools (HERE), and The Future (UNC, Chashama). Eamonn designs video extensively for Lee Breuer of Mabou Mines including: Pataphysics Pennyeach, La Divina Caricatura, Opera Antigone, and Medea.  Eamonn also collaborates frequently with artist Sarah Michelson in the creation of performance and installation projects. Other design credits include: Big Dance Theater, B3 Dance (Bessie Nomination), LA Dance, The LA Phil, Parsons Dance, Jazz at Lincoln Center, and Portland Center Stage. Eamonn has taught projections design at Princeton, City College of New York, and UVA.

As a computer scientist and freelance artist, Andy Carluccio is passionate about the intersections of art and technology. He develops and deploys applications for use in live performing arts, particularly in the realms of theatrical entertainment and video live streaming. His research is currently focused on automation and visualization for live performance design. 

Bringing together a team with experience in film, theater, and broadcast, Liminal Entertainment Technologies develops innovative software and systems for numerous entertainment industries. Rising to meet the needs created by the current pandemic, Liminal created the acclaimed utility, ZoomOSC, and has established itself as a premiere name in virtual theater. Currently specializing in decentralized performance, virtual events, and live streaming, Liminal prepares to release its StreamWeaver software ecosystem, which will open up new horizons for both virtual and in-person events and performance. The Liminal Team is grounded in the motto “Adapt to the Present, Build for the Future” as it strives to pioneer the future of entertainment.

Alex Venguer was born and raised in Mexico City, after High School he moved to Boston to study at Berklee College of Music, where he studied Music Production & Engineering as well as taking various classes from the Arranging and Classical Composition departments.  After Berklee, he moved to NYC where he started his job as a general assistant at Sound On Sound Studios, eventually he moved up to an assistant position, and during that time he was part of the merge between Sound On Sound and Right Track which would become Legacy Recording Studios.  During that period Alex had the opportunity to assist, learn from and work with some of the top engineers and artists in the world.  After some time there he went freelance, but to this day keeps his relation with the studio as one of the few and select engineers that Legacy Recording Studios uses for their sessions.

SInce 2006, when he went freelance, Alex has been recording & mixing for many of the top names in the industry as well as being part of the more indie movement in the city.  In 2009 he was awarded a Grammy for recording and mixing Loudon Wainwright's record "High Wide & Handsome: The Charlie Pool Project" which won the "Best Traditional Folk" album of the year.  Then, in 2010 he was awarded his second Grammy for his work on the album "Wake Up" by John Legend & The Roots which won the award for "Best R&B" album of the year.  In addition to that, he's been involved in various other Grammy winning and nominated albums such as Maria Schneider's "Sky Blue", John Legend's "Evolver"  and the song "Shine" as well as the cast albums for the Broadway productions of "Shrek" and "9 to 5".  

Alex is an engineer capable and comfortable with recording and mixing as large or small a project as can come and has had great experience on and working with the top names in styles as varied as jazz, rock, folk, classical, pop, hip hop, broadway, r&b, electronic and many others.  Some examples of the artists he's worked with include Sting, John Legend, Maria Schneider, Marcus Miller, Aretha Frankiln, Wynton Marsalis, Juan Luis Guerra, Phil Collins, Christian McBride, Cassandra Wilson, Sufjan Stevens, Regina Spektor, My Brightest DIamond, Rufus Wainwright , John Patitucci and many others.

Oscar Zambrano was born and raised in Mexico City. After graduating from Berklee College of Music in 2003, he moved to New York where he started working at Sound on Sound. In 2004 he and Jorge Castellanos founded Zampol Productions, a recording studio that focuses on mastering, mixing, and recording. Throughout his career, albums Oscar has worked on have won 3 Grammy awards, been nominated for 11 additional Grammys, and have earned multiplatinum status through the RIAA.

Oscar has worked with Esperanza Spalding, Magos Herrera, Harry Styles, Sting, Kelly Clarkson, Zoe, Justin Timberlake, Pablo Ziegler, Miley Cyrus, Max Richter, Winton Marsalis, DJ Khaled, Marco Antonio Solis, Pedro Giraudo, Nass, I’m With Her, Death Cab for Cutie, Miguel, Arizona, Prince Royce, The Shins, La Santa Cecilia, Blake Shelton, Rascal Flats, War on Drugs, Belanova, Phoenix, Train, Portugal The Man, Wyclef Jean, Arcade Fire, Jack Johnson, Fifth Harmony, DMX, TLC, St. Vincent, Charlie Puth, Alejandro Sanz, Juanes, to name a few.

Karen Wong is the Deputy Director of the New Museum, renowned for its entrepreneurial platforms and mission: new art and new ideas. She co-founded NEW INC (2014), the first museum-led incubator for art, technology, and design. The initiative is a global model for creating space for and supporting creative enterprises focused on cultural and social impact. Wong sits on the nonprofit boards of Apex for Youth, a mentoring and education program for under-served Asian and immigrant youth, David Byrne's Arbutus Foundation dedicated to re-imagining the world through projects that inspire and educate, National Sawdust, and Rhizome, a platform for born-digital art. She is an Adjunct Assistant Professor at Columbia University’s GSAPP.

Journalist Carmen Aristegui Flores graduated from the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México.

She directs and conducts the morning news "Aristegui en Vivo" from the portal Aristegui Noticias, and the interview program that bears her name in the international chain CNN en Español; she is a collaborator of the newspaper Reforma.

The AN portal has positioned itself as a leader in digital news for the second consecutive year - according to Reuters Report 2018 - and has been awarded the Knight Award by the International Center for Journalists (ICFJ), based in Washington.

Karen Brooks Hopkins is a Board member and Senior Advisor to the Onassis Foundation for the Public Benefit.  She is also the Nasher Haemisegger Fellow at SMU DataArts located at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas and currently serves as a Director on the Board of the Trust of Governors Island and a Board member of the Jerome L. Greene Foundation.

Karen was an employee of the Brooklyn Academy of Music (“BAM”) for 36 years, serving as its President from 1999 until her retirement in 2015 when she was designated President Emerita.

From 2009 – 2010, she was selected by the New York State Assembly to represent Brooklyn on the State Board of Regents.

From 2015-2017, Karen served as the inaugural Senior Fellow in Residence at the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

Karen was awarded honorary degrees from St. Francis College, Long Island University and Pratt Institute and, in 2019, she received an honorary Doctorate of Laws from Columbia University.  She has also received several international honors including the King Olav Medal from Norway, the Chevalier de L’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres from France and the Commander of the Royal Order of the Polar Star from Sweden.  During her tenure as President of BAM, the institution was awarded the National Medal of Arts from President Barack Obama.  

In 2013, Karen was named one of the 50 Most Powerful Women in New York by Crain’s New York Business.  She was also honored as a member of the first Crain’s Hall of Fame in 2015.  

Karen is the author of Successful Fundraising for Arts and Culture Organizations, currently in its 2nd edition.  In 2020, her memoir of her years at BAM will be published by Powerhouse Books.