Overview

Marie-Hélène Bernard joined the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra as president and CEO in 2015.  

She previously served as:  

  • executive director and CEO of the Handel and Haydn Society in Boston 
  • chief of staff, project and orchestra manager for the Philadelphia Orchestra 
  • orchestra manager for the Cleveland Orchestra, and 
  • president and CEO of the Canton (Ohio) Symphony Orchestra.  

Bernard began her career in orchestra management in 1996, having won a prestigious fellowship with the League of American Orchestras with residencies at the New York Philharmonic and Minnesota Orchestra.  

 Before joining the orchestra world, Bernard practiced corporate and tax law in Canada and is a member of the Québec Bar Association. A Québec native of Belgian descent, she studied communications, media, and literature at Jean-de-Brébeuf College and law at the University of Montréal. She holds a master’s degree in arts management from Concordia University (Montreal).  

 Since Bernard began her tenure, the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra completed a five-year strategic plan and experienced significant increases in attendance and ticket revenue, and in earned and contributed revenue. Under her leadership, the orchestra is embracing a period of great momentum with the stability of new orchestra and stagehand contracts, the expansion of important regional partnerships, groundbreaking artistic initiatives and the pursuit of new media opportunities to enhance the orchestra’s recording and broadcast catalog.  

 At the Handel and Haydn Society, Bernard led the organization through an important artistic and financial revival as it prepared to celebrate its 200th anniversary. The society became an essential educational provider and partner to youth and music educators in Massachusetts, and a national leader in early music. She doubled operational budgets and endowments and oversaw the most ambitious capital campaign in the organization’s history.  

 Bernard is among the distinguished women serving on the Widener Global Leaders Program advisory board at Wichita State University’s W. Frank Barton School of Business and member of the International Women’s Forum. She serves on the boards of United Way of Greater St. Louis, the St. Louis Regional Chamber and Grand Center Inc. She serves on the Radio Arts Foundation Honorary Advocacy Council and on the Artist Presentation Society Advisory Committee. She is a member of the Symphony, Opera and Ballet Employers Electronic Media Association.  

 In 2016, she received St. Louis Magazine’s A-List Award for “Arts Leader” and was among St. Louis Business Journal’s “Most Influential Business Women.”