Handel and Haydn Society Announces New Chief Executive Officer

[BOSTON, MA] Handel and Haydn Society, America's oldest continuously performing arts organization, announced today the appointment of Marie-Hélène Bernard as its new Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer(CEO). Ms. Bernard, who is currently President and CEO of the Canton (Ohio) Symphony Orchestra, succeeds Mary Deissler, who has led Handel and Haydn for twenty-five years. Ms. Bernard joins the Society on April 2, 2007.

Ms. Bernard was selected after a five-month international search of candidates from the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. "Marie-Hélène Bernard was the unanimous choice of the Society's Board," states Todd Estabrook, Chair of the Handel and Haydn Society Board of Governors. "Marie-Hélène comes to us as a visionary with extensive business and management skills and a broad knowledge and great passion for the music Handel and Haydn performs. We are confident that Marie-Hélène will bring us to new levels of excellence as we approach our 200th anniversary in 2015."

"I am thrilled and honored to join the Handel and Haydn Society, one of North America's most sought-after and respected period-instrument ensembles," says Ms. Bernard. "With its new artistic partnerships and initiatives in place and a longstanding tradition of excellence, I look forward to leading the Society and enhancing its national and international reputation. This is an exciting time for the organization. I look forward to working with the Board, artistic leadership, orchestra, chorus, and staff."

Marie-Hélène Bernard
A native of Quebec, Ms. Bernard studied Communications, Media, and Literature at Jean-de-Brébeuf College (Montréal, Canada) and law at the University of Montréal. As an attorney, Ms. Bernard practiced corporate, tax, and intellectual property laws for six years in Canada and remains a member of the Bar Association of Quebec.

Ms. Bernard began her career in orchestra management in 1996, having won a prestigious Orchestra Management Fellowship with the America Symphony Orchestra League. She completed residencies with the New York Philharmonic, The Minnesota Orchestra, and Syracuse Symphony. Over the succeeding eight years, Ms. Bernard served as Project Manager and Acting Orchestra Manager for the Philadelphia Orchestra, and Orchestra Manager for the Cleveland Orchestra, where she managed touring activities and worked with Music Directors Christoph von Dohnányi and Franz Welser-Möst. Since August 2005, Marie-Hélène Bernard has been President and CEO of the Canton Symphony Orchestra, where she has developed significant partnerships and programs; increased earned revenue by 30%, unearned by 15%; and balanced the budget for two consecutive seasons.

Ms. Bernard plays the viola da gamba and performed Baroque music professionally for ten years.