Marie-Hélène Bernard
Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer

A native of Québec, Ms. Bernard studied Communications, Media, and Literature at Jean-de-Brébeuf College (Montréal) and law at the University of Montréal.  As an attorney, Ms. Bernard practiced corporate, tax, and intellectual property laws for six years in Canada and is a member of the Bar Association of Québec.

Ms. Bernard began her career in orchestra management in 1996, having won a prestigious Orchestra Management Fellowship with the America Symphony Orchestra League.  She completed residencies with the New York Philharmonic, The Minnesota Orchestra, and Syracuse Symphony.  Over the succeeding eight years, Ms. Bernard served as Project Manager and Acting Orchestra Manager for the Philadelphia Orchestra, and Orchestra Manager for the Cleveland Orchestra, where she managed that organization's touring activities and worked with Music Directors Christoph von Dohnányi and Franz Welser-Möst.  Since August 2005, Marie-Hélène Bernard was President and CEO of the Canton Symphony Orchestra from August 2005 to March 2007, where she developed significant partnerships and programs; increased earned revenue by 30%, unearned by 15%; and balanced budgets for two consecutive seasons. Ms. Bernard started her position as Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Handel and Haydn Society in April 2007.

She plays the viola da gamba and performed Baroque music professionally for ten years.