REMEMBERING RICHARD ORTNER

Remembering

Richard Ortner

A BRIEF REFLECTION BY CATHY YOUNG

Richard Ortner was a mentor and friend.

When I joined the school in 2011 to head the Dance Division, I knew that Boston Conservatory was different, unlike any place I’d ever worked before. There was an ethos at Boston Conservatory that was familial and supportive while at the same time energizing and motivating—a place where everyone was pushing each other to do their best and be their best. The community was extraordinarily talented and represented an incredible range of aesthetics and ideas, and yet everyone was united by a common calling: the arts. This was a place where excellence, on every level, to every degree, was reinforced: excellence in teaching, excellence in technique, excellence in presentation, excellence in performance, excellence in artistic expression, and, above all, excellence in one’s conduct—showing gratitude, compassion, and empathy, not just on the stage but on a personal level. At the heart of this community was Richard.

Richard believed artists to be storytellers of our humanity—inheritors of the past and shapers of the present—whose stories form the foundation for future generations of artists. Art is a reflection of the world around us and helps us to understand our place in it. In his words, artists “work constantly to find true empathy—to understand others, to feel with them, to translate and filter their experience through our own, and in the end to share that experience, transformed, as a way of enlarging the human journey."

Boston Conservatory is thriving today because Richard understood that artistry is an expression of the human condition and that each individual student, faculty, and staff member brings their own unique perspective to telling humanity’s collective story. The Conservatory’s focus on developing individual artistic voices is the bedrock of its education—it is what makes art authentic and true and what fuels the magic that moves us. Richard’s support for and celebration of all of the Conservatory’s distinct voices has been a model for me as I lead this institution into its next chapter. His legacy of excellence in the arts and compassion for each other is instilled in each of us, and the world is better for it.

Cathy Young serves as senior vice president and executive director of Boston Conservatory at Berklee, a role she assumed in 2017 after Richard Ortner’s retirement.

1998 Richard Ortner is hired as Boston Conservatory’s ninth president.

1999 Boston Conservatory’s Student Affairs office is restructured to better support students and is cited by accreditors as a “model for small colleges.”

2006 Boston Conservatory purchases a parking lot on Hemenway Street and begins the Hemenway Project, the school’s first-ever capital campaign, aimed at raising $30 million to fund renovation of the Conservatory’s 31 Hemenway Street building.

2010 After a successful fundraising campaign, Boston Conservatory completes the Hemenway Project and celebrates the reopening of the renovated and expanded the 31 Hemenway Street building with a special concert featuring Tommy Tune, Joseph Silverstein, and alumnus Chad Kimball (B.F.A. '99, musical theater).

A LIFE SHAPED BY THE ARTS

President Richard Ortner, who served as Boston Conservatory’s final president, passed away on October 10, 2019, after a long and courageous battle with cancer. He led a compassionate life, shaped the arts, and left behind a legacy of excellence and generosity.

During his tenure as president from 1998 to 2017, Ortner devoted his life to Boston Conservatory and transformed it into the world-renowned institution that it is recognized as today. The energy and vision he brought to the school attracted talented faculty, introduced groundbreaking student resources and programs, and led the Conservatory through two historic facility expansions to provide students with state-of-the-art learning spaces—the renovation of the 31 Hemenway Street building and the construction of 132 Ipswich Street (recently named the Richard Ortner Studio Building) just a few years later. Ortner was indefatigable and always forward-thinking, and his bold vision for the Conservatory did not stop there. Imagining a world of endless potential and possibility, he led the Conservatory through a historic merger with Berklee—the first in the world between two performing arts colleges.

Perhaps his greatest legacy is the close-knit, supportive, and socially engaged community he fostered at Boston Conservatory. Deeply passionate about the role of performers as artist-citizens, Ortner believed that artists bear a responsibility to use their

talent to enrich both their local community and the world at large. These ideals are ingrained in the Conservatory’s culture and identity, and they drive the school’s mission to educate artists who will impact the world for the better.

Ortner’s love for the arts was evident at an early age. He began learning piano at the age of five and continued his music studies through an excellent public school program. He accompanied choruses both in junior and senior high school and became the choir director of the Long Island Federation of Temple Youth. Following high school, he attended the Cooper Union to study architecture. During this time, he continued to pursue music through piano studies with Juilliard instructor Richard Faber and by producing and hosting two classical music programs for WNYU (New York University) Radio. After deciding to study music full time, he transferred to New York University (NYU), where he completed a B.A. in music in 1971. Ortner then began what he referred to as his “real musical education”: three years as an usher at Carnegie Hall. This also marked the start of his activities as a concert producer. After persuading the management of Carnegie Hall to turn over the Recital Hall, free of charge, he organized the very first Carnegie Hall Ushers Recital, which the New York Times enthusiastically reviewed. Later, he organized the first concert of the Washington Square Chamber Music Society at NYU.

2011 Boston Conservatory purchases the property at 132 Ipswich Street for the school’s first-ever new construction.

2014 Boston Conservatory completes construction of 132 Ipswich Street and celebrates its opening. Boston Conservatory also launches its second capital campaign, 150th Anniversary Campaign: Exceeding Expectations, to raise $21 million for endowment, capital projects, and operating support.

2015 Boston Conservatory and Berklee College of Music jointly announce that they have signed a memorandum of understanding to formally explore the possibility of a merger.

2016 In January, the Board of Trustees for Boston Conservatory and Berklee College of Music each vote unanimously to approve a merger and form “Berklee.” In June, the merger is legally complete and Boston Conservatory’s name is amended to Boston Conservatory at Berklee.

2017 Boston Conservatory President Richard Ortner retires, becoming the school’s final administrator to hold the title of president. The same year, the Conservatory celebrates its 150th anniversary with a special gala at Symphony Hall with guest host Alan Cumming.

It was at Carnegie Hall that Ortner first met Leonard Bernstein and his manager Harry Kraut, both of whom encouraged Ortner to pursue his burgeoning interest in orchestra management— learning “how music gets to people”—with a position at Tanglewood, the Boston Symphony Orchestra’s (BSO) renowned summer home. From there, Bernstein said, he could get an incomparable overview of every facet of orchestra operations, from concert production and finance to facilities management, programming, fundraising, and board relations. “Oh, and by the way, there’s a pretty good school there, too,” Ortner later recalled Bernstein saying.

The school, of course, was the Berkshire Music Center (BMC, later renamed the Tanglewood Music Center), and in the summer of 1973, Ortner became a guide at Tanglewood, manning the information booth and filling various backstage posts for both the BSO’s Tanglewood Festival concerts and the full range of BMC activities. One year later, in 1974, he was invited to become assistant administrator of the Music Center, beginning a remarkable 23-year career with the BSO.

At that time, artistic direction at Tanglewood (both the festival and the academy) was accomplished by the unlikely “troika” of Leonard Bernstein, Gunther Schuller, and the young Seiji Ozawa, who had just been appointed music director of the BSO. Ortner became administrator of the Music Center in 1984 with the appointment of pianist Leon Fleisher as artistic director, and along the way, he served as assistant manager of the BSO Chamber Players, coordinator of the Chamber Music Prelude Concerts, and a director of the BSO Credit Union. He was involved in numerous other special projects, including the design and construction of Ozawa Hall.

Ortner served as a panelist for the National Endowment for the Arts, Chamber Music America, and the Aaron Copland Fund for Music; a speaker at the Harvard Graduate School of Education; and a frequent guest lecturer on music and education, including moderating the 2006 Harvard symposium on Working with Bernstein. He was a member of the founding Board of Governors of the Boston Arts Academy and chaired its Board of Trustees for two years. He also served on the Board of Overseers of the Handel and Haydn Society, the Board of Visitors of the Fenway Community Health Center, and the Planning Task Force for Boston’s New Center for Arts and Culture. In spring 2019, Ortner was awarded the Leonard Bernstein Award by the Longy School of Music at Bard College for his contributions to the elevation of music in society.

Throughout his life, Ortner cherished the arts and devoted his energy to preparing the next generation of artists. Boston Conservatory is the culmination of Ortner’s work. His spirit, energy, and warmth live on at the school, and his impact on the arts at large will be felt for generations to come.