Richard Kessler (B.M. '82, M.M. '83, trombone) considers himself "a product of the N.Y.C. Board of Education" and says that the rich musical experiences of his school days left an indelible impact on him. As the newly appointed executive director of the Center for Arts Education, Kessler is developing a bold new vision to restore the riches of the very same system he benefited from.Though not from a musical family, Richard Kessler discovered a love of music during his early public-school education in Queens, and began playing the trombone in 10th grade. In addition to music theory classes and Saturday-morning chamber music sessions with classmates at his band director's home, Kessler played with the All-City High School Orchestra and sang with his school's chorus: "one of the greatest musical experiences that I've ever had, as well as the greatest sense of community—I remember the hairs standing up on the back of my neck."
Richard Kessler
Accepted to Juilliard in 1979, though his parents were "not wild about me going to music school," Kessler studied trombone with Edward Herman, principal trombonist of the New York Philharmonic at the time. "Herman really liked to crack the whip, but he was a great guy with a big heart," he recalls. Looking back, Kessler says he was enriched by his Juilliard education—"the extraordinary musicians and sheer quality of performance was out of this world"—but wishes he had taken more advantage of liberal arts courses at the School. "Students must be nurtured in multiple ways. The more well-rounded you are in liberal arts, the better off you'll be as a musician."After graduation, Kessler began performing with the Saturday Brass Quintet, which toured the country, ran the brass chamber-music department at the Manhattan School of Music, and received a Naumburg Award in 1990. During this period, Kessler also worked part-time as a paralegal, sharpening important skills that would help him in the future—"communication, writing, even my playing … it was a fortuitous thing for me."His professional path took a sharp turn when the Saturday Brass Quintet met Mitchell Korn, a consultant who coached artists on teaching and performing for public school communities. While Korn helped the quintet brainstorm programs, Kessler began to do work for Korn's consulting company, Artsvision (which assists arts organizations in the building and strengthening of community through the arts). Kessler discovered he "had a knack for it." After some time designing his own programs for Artsvision, Kessler left performing in 1993 to work solely with the company. "There finally came a time that I felt I could do more for the art I loved by being an educational consultant. I wanted to make a real difference in people's lives."After four years at Artsvision, Kessler became executive director of the American Music Center, a national service and information center for American composers founded by Aaron Copland. At A.M.C., Kessler led an ambitious expansion of the center's activities through the creation of new programs such as the award-winning Web magazine NewMusicbox.org, a nationwide career development program for composers and performers, and the establishment of the American Music Center Collection at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts. Kessler says he "felt privileged to make the field a better place for composers, who are our national treasures."Last May, Kessler became executive director of the Center for Arts Education (C.A.E.), a nonprofit organization that provides funding to support arts education partnerships and programs in all five boroughs of N.Y.C. At the helm of C.A.E., Kessler is now in a strategic position to have an impact on the very educational system that once had so powerful an impact on him. His many projects include a School Partnership Grant Program, supporting schools' partnerships with cultural organizations. C.A.E.'s mission to restore, stimulate, and sustain quality arts education to the city's public schools will benefit every child in the system. Says Kessler, "Kids are missing out on the beautiful, life-changing education I had in the public school system and it breaks my heart."Kessler finds a strange irony in what is happening now in the U.S.: "While culturally, interest in music is at an all-time high, educationally, we're at a real low point. When budget cuts happen, music and the arts are usually the first thing to go." Kessler adds, "People have to understand that the arts help to shape children in whatever they do. We must restore the public school system—not just to what it was before, but to make it even better."
