Having recently completed a highly-successful season of performances and community outreach during a time when many orchestras nationwide were silenced, Palm Beach Symphony has announced its board of directors that will shape the company’s continued growth and lead it into its 50th anniversary season that will take place in 2024.

Peter M. Gottsegen was elected as chair for two three-year terms. Gottsegen was a General Partner of Salomon Brothers from 1978 until he left in 1987 to cofound CAI Private Equity and serve as its managing partner until his retirement in 2014.  An avid supporter of the arts, he currently serves as vice chair of the Chamber Music Society of Palm Beach and previously served as chairman of the acclaimed Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts and as director of the Toronto Symphony and the Orchestra of St. Luke’s in New York City. He is vice chairman of the Milbank Memorial Fund, a foundation focused on population health, and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. He is a graduate of Georgetown University and received an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

“Music Director Gerard Schwarz is a long-time friend, and CEO David McClymont and his team have done an amazing job during a historically difficult time for the arts,” Gottesgen said. “I’m excited to continue the outreach that has expanded the Symphony’s audience, especially its development of younger audiences, which includes its many music education programs that introduce school age children to orchestral music.”

James Borynack was reelected to the board as vice chair and John Herrick retains his role as treasurer. Manley Thaler was newly elected as secretary. The board also welcomed Todd Dahlstrom and Felicia Taylor who join returning members Paul Goldner, Carol Hays, Y. Michele Kang, Gary Lachman and Don Thompson.

Dahlstrom serves as vice president and senior business development officer for South Florida for PNC Wealth Management, which is a corporate sponsor of the Symphony. In January, he was named board chair of Young Friends of Palm Beach Symphony in addition to his role on the Symphony’s development committee and as chair of the Swings for Strings Golf Tournament. A member of the Palm Beach Hedge Fund Association, Dahlstrom earned a master’s degree in Finance from the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University and a bachelor’s degree in English from North Park University in Chicago. 

Five-time Emmy Award-nominee Taylor is a communications professional with 25-years of experience in broadcast journalism and media production who served as an on- and off-air anchor, correspondent, talk show host and producer for global business and finance with major media outlets including CNN, CNBC and Financial Times TV. Her current project involves serving as executive producer of The Holy Goats, a documentary film chronicling the social impact of climate change in Senegal. Honorary chair of Mary Rubloff Harmony House and a member of the board of advisors for The Brooklyn Museum, she also serves on the advisory committee for the Hope for Depression Research Fund and is president of the Taylor Foundation, her family’s charitable foundation. She received a bachelor’s degree in communications from Northwestern University. 

Palm Beach Symphony will launch its 2021-22 Season featuring guest artists Hélène Grimaud, Yefim Bronfman, Maria João Pires, Midori and Jon Manasse on November 7 at the Kravis Center for the Performing Arts.  For more information visit www.palmbeachsymphony.org.