SSC President Kathy Czerny steps down after 14 years at the helm
May 27, 2020
South Shore Conservatory (SSC), New England’s largest community school of music and the arts, is pleased to announce the appointment of Karen Geer as SSC’s new president. Geer succeeds Kathy Czerny, who has served as president since 2006 and is retiring after 14 years of distinguished service. Geer was selected by SSC’s board following a national search, and takes office on June 1, 2020.
Geer comes to SSC from the Interschool Orchestras of New York (ISO), where she served as Executive Director. At ISO, Geer strengthened that organization’s core programs while forging new partnerships with a host of other arts organizations in NYC, alliances which celebrated the city’s cultural heritage and its diversity. Geer’s vision for the youth orchestra consisted of a new cross-genre, cross-cultural model which featured partnerships and new commissions with Daniel Felsenfeld, Huang Ruo, Earl McIntyre and Arturo O’Farrill. Children participated in innovative partnerships with the New York Chinese Cultural Center, Mingus Dynasty and Ballet Hispanico.
Before ISO, Ger was Executive Director of the Brooklyn Conservatory of Music (BCM), which serves over 15,000 individuals annually through music education, music therapy and performances in Brooklyn, Queens and Manhattan. Geer led BCM to success in each element of its mission - artistic, programmatic and financial, with Brooklyn Conservatory reaching new heights of philanthropic support from individuals, corporations, foundations and the government. Before BCM, Geer spent five years at Opus 118 Harlem School of Music, where she worked as both a music teacher and an executive, finishing her time at Opus 118 as the school’s Interim Executive and Managing Director.
A native of Ohio, Geer is a graduate of Kent State University, where she earned her Bachelor of Music Education degree, as well as the Manhattan School of Music, where she was awarded a Master of Music degree. A practicing lawyer before concentrating on a career in music and the arts, Geer has her JD from Fordham University School of Law, and her LLM from Pace University School Law.
In her tenure as SSC’s president, Kathy Czerny led the school to continuing excellence in music instruction, with its renowned programs in both private and group lessons and its arts-based preschool, pre-k, and kindergarten, while expanding SSC’s vision of its role on the South Shore with vibrant programs in Creative Arts Therapies and Community Partnerships. These latter initiatives have enabled SSC to bring the power of music and the arts to young people with developmental delays, autism and traumatic brain injuries, to seniors seeking to rekindle their love of music and learning, and to others living with Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and other neurological conditions.