Richard Ortner, 2018 June 8
Richard Ortner, retired president of the Boston Conservatory, discusses his early relationship with music and how he landed in the field of music administration. He describes his experiences ushering at Carnegie Hall in the early seventies and as an administrator with Berkshire Music Center (now Tanglewood Music Center)—particularly how Tanglewood operated and the creation of a new concert hall. Ortner discusses his tenure as President of the Boston Conservatory, including his hiring; the building of its faculty and reputation; facilities projects he oversaw, such as the 31 Hemenway renovation and 132 Ipswich purchase; the genesis and goals of the merger of Berklee College of Music and the Boston Conservatory. He also shares his approach to music administration, leadership, and fundraising.
Music administrator Richard Ortner (1948-2019) was raised in Great Neck, New York. Trained in classical piano, he studied architecture at Cooper Union before leaving to get his Bachelor of Arts in Music from New York University in 1970. That same year, he began ushering at Carnegie Hall, which led him to a job as a guide during the 1973 Tanglewood Music Festival season, after which he was hired as the Assistant to the Administrator, and later Administrator, of the Berkshire Music Center (now Tanglewood Music Center). In 1998, he left Tanglewood to become President of the Boston Conservatory, a position he held until his retirement in 2017. During his tenure as president, he expanded the Conservatory faculty and facilitated its 31 Hemenway renovation and 132 Ipswich purchase. Ortner also co-orchestrated the 2016 merger between the Conservatory and Berklee College of Music.
