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Leadership Transitions at Bloomingdale

Dear Members of the Bloomingdale School of Music Community,

I am writing on behalf of the Board of Directors to announce that our wonderful Executive Director of the past six years, Erika S. Floreska, will be leaving Bloomingdale this spring to become Director of Development for the Long Island Children’s Museum.  We congratulate Erika on her new position, which will allow her to be close to home while her children are finishing high school (though her daughter will continue to study at Bloomingdale next year). We recognize her enormous dedication, energy, and talent in our school’s service. During her tenure, she has developed new programs for musicians of all ages, expanded partnerships with local schools and arts institutions, overseen the creation of a beautiful new website, and supervised important infrastructure changes. Throughout, she has been a tireless advocate of our core values and mission as a community music school. I am confident Erika will remain a friend to Bloomingdale. She will be here through the Spring Benefit on April 2, and then shift to Senior Advisor to ensure a smooth transition.

While we will miss Erika, I am pleased to announce the appointment of Helene Blieberg, an experienced nonprofit leader, to serve as Interim Executive Director, and to announce that BSM Assistant Director Brandon Vazquez will be elevated to Senior Director.

Helene is a specialist in interim nonprofit arts leadership and brings extensive experience in management, communications, and grant-making.  She understands the needs of organizations like ours, having served as an interim executive for a music school as well as numerous other arts organizations.  She will join Bloomingdale on March 23.

 

 

Brandon has been a member of the Bloomingdale community since he was a student over twenty years ago.  He has worked in many positions at the school since 2001. Helene and Brandon will work closely with the rest of Bloomingdale’s talented and dedicated staff to ensure stability and growth.

Working with members of the faculty and staff, the Board has begun the search for a permanent executive director, which is expected to take a few months. We welcome your input.  Please send us specific candidates’ names and connections to people who can lead us to candidates we might not otherwise locate.

Thank you, our community, for your support.  Bloomingdale School of Music remains a vital and vibrant place, with a beautifully renovated concert hall and garden, and a new Steinway grand piano. Joyous sounds continue to ring up and down the stairwells as they have since I was a student over 45 years ago.  We hope to see you at our upcoming Spring Benefit, Bloomingdale on Broadway, on April 2nd and at the Performathon on May 16th.

 

Sincerely,

Ken Michaels

Bloomingdale School of Music

Board President

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