Matías Tarnopolsky
The Philadelphia Orchestra
President and CEO
Matías Tarnopolsky has served as executive and artistic director of Cal Performances, at the University of California, Berkeley, which presents the world’s leading orchestras, ensembles, and musicians in multi-faceted residencies, since August 2009. He previously served as vice president of artistic planning for the New York Philharmonic,senior director of artistic planning for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and producer for the BBC Symphony Orchestra and BBC Singers.
At the start of his tenure at Cal Performances, Tarnopolsky articulated the three major artistic values around which Cal Performances is organized — artistic excellence, advocacy, and accessibility — which inform all aspects of the organization’s internationally-recognized performing arts and educational programmes. Tarnopolsky oversees the programming of approximately 125 performances each year to audiences numbering around 120,000, in addition to a broad range of inventive educational and community programs. In 2015, Cal Performances launched Berkeley RADICAL (Research and Development Initiative in Creativity, Arts, and Learning), a major initiative in support of public artistic literacy, programming of contemporary relevance, and the sharing of programs through digital documentation and dissemination.
A classically trained musician, Matías Tarnopolsky received degrees in music and musicology from the University of London’s King’s College. In 2013, he was named one of Musical America’s international “Movers & Shakers: 30 Key Influencers in the Performing Arts,” and was selected as Classical Music “MVP” by the San Francisco Chronicle. In 2015, he was awarded the Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French Ministry of Culture. He previously served on the Overseers of the Curtis Institute of Music, and he currently serves on the boards of New Music USA, the Barenboim-Said Foundation USA, and the Executive Committee of the Avery Fisher Artist Programme.
At the start of his tenure at Cal Performances, Tarnopolsky articulated the three major artistic values around which Cal Performances is organized — artistic excellence, advocacy, and accessibility — which inform all aspects of the organization’s internationally-recognized performing arts and educational programmes. Tarnopolsky oversees the programming of approximately 125 performances each year to audiences numbering around 120,000, in addition to a broad range of inventive educational and community programs. In 2015, Cal Performances launched Berkeley RADICAL (Research and Development Initiative in Creativity, Arts, and Learning), a major initiative in support of public artistic literacy, programming of contemporary relevance, and the sharing of programs through digital documentation and dissemination.
A classically trained musician, Matías Tarnopolsky received degrees in music and musicology from the University of London’s King’s College. In 2013, he was named one of Musical America’s international “Movers & Shakers: 30 Key Influencers in the Performing Arts,” and was selected as Classical Music “MVP” by the San Francisco Chronicle. In 2015, he was awarded the Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French Ministry of Culture. He previously served on the Overseers of the Curtis Institute of Music, and he currently serves on the boards of New Music USA, the Barenboim-Said Foundation USA, and the Executive Committee of the Avery Fisher Artist Programme.
