Karen Zorn ’84

Karen Zorn has been President of Longy School of Music of Bard College since 2007 and a Vice President of Bard College since 2012. Zorn led Longy through a process of radical change unprecedented in its nearly 100-year history. A fearless educational entrepreneur, she balanced the budget, boosted enrollment, executed a merger with Bard College and established partnerships with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and FundaMusical of Venezuela (El Sistema) to launch innovative graduate programs of study and community engagement. These include the recently launched Take a Stand program and new Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) in Music program, based in Los Angeles, as well as teaching by Longy Conservatory students in public schools, community centers, prisons, shelters and other external venues where the traditions of music education can contribute to public life. “My time at Goshen continues to shape my view of the world and the role that artists can play. I see artists as agents of change, which means the world needs more artists now than ever.”