2026 Bienen School of Music Convocation

Emil J. Kang has spent three decades building, funding, and reimagining arts institutions across the United States. He maintains an active consulting practice advising arts leaders and organizations on strategy, governance, and institutional transformation.

Most recently, Kang served as program director for arts and culture at the Mellon Foundation—the nation’s largest arts funder—where he led a $120 million annual portfolio and conceived Creatives Rebuild New York, the largest guaranteed income program for artists in U.S. history. Before Mellon, he founded Carolina Performing Arts at UNC-Chapel Hill, building it into one of the country’s premier university-based performing arts programs while commissioning more than 60 new works from internationally renowned artists. He also served as professor of the practice in the Department of Music and special assistant to the Chancellor for the Arts.

A violinist from an early age, Kang’s career began in the orchestra world. He was selected for the League of American Orchestras management fellowship, with assignments at the San Francisco Symphony, Houston Symphony, and Grand Rapids Symphony. He then served as orchestra manager of the Seattle Symphony. At 31, he became the youngest person to lead a major American orchestra when he was appointed president and executive director of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra—also the first Asian American to hold such a position. During his tenure, he led the planning, construction, and opening of the $60 million Max M. Fisher Music Center, a landmark in midtown Detroit’s revitalization. He commissioned works from Wayne Shorter, Yusef Lateef, and George Walker, and brought Itzhak Perlman on as principal guest conductor. Under his leadership, the DSO received the ASCAP John S. Edwards Award for Strongest Commitment to New American Music. He also established the nation’s first youth jazz orchestra under the umbrella of a symphony orchestra and created the DSO’s Jazz Directorship, a position first held by Marcus Belgrave.

Kang currently serves on the National Council on the Arts, first appointed in 2012 by President Barack Obama. He serves as entrepreneur-in-residence at the Yale Ventures Cultural Innovation Lab at Yale University. In 2025, he served as the Agnes Gund Visiting Professor of the Practice of Arts at Brown University.

He serves on boards including Silkroad, National Sawdust, and Mutual Mentorship for Musicians, and is vice chair of the New York City Cultural Affairs Advisory Commission. He writes about the future of arts institutions, leadership, and philanthropic practice on his Substack, The Reprise. Kang received his Bachelor of Arts in economics from the University of Rochester.

Yelisey (Eli) Zelman is a multifaceted conductor and violinist currently pursuing a Master of Music in Orchestral Conducting at Northwestern University’s Bienen School of Music under Donald Schleicher. He holds several key leadership roles, including Assistant Conductor and Production Assistant for The Hamptons Festival of Music and Assistant Conductor for the Atlanta Musicians’ Orchestra. Additionally, he serves as the Principal Guest Director of Concordi Laetitia and works with the Georgia Festival of Music and The Art of Conducting Academy. Beyond his musical performances, Zelman fosters community engagement as the co-host of The Hamptons Music Club, a project dedicated to cultural enrichment and arts advocacy.

Zelman’s professional background includes positions with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and the Metropolitan Youth Symphony Orchestra. An accomplished performer, he served as president and Concertmaster of the Georgia State University Symphony Orchestra, where he earned his Bachelor’s degree Summa Cum Laude. During his four years at Georgia State, he also pursued extensive informal studies in orchestral conducting under Michael Palmer. His technical expertise is matched by a competitive record of 1st and Platinum Prizes from the New York Classical Music and VanBach International competitions. Since 2017, Zelman has also maintained a private teaching practice in violin, music theory, and history.

Synchrony Quartet is a Chicago-based saxophone quartet dedicated to the performance of contemporary music and to fostering meaningful collaboration between performers, composers, and local arts communities. Formed out of acclaimed pedagogue Taimur Sullivan’s studio, the ensemble has quickly gained national recognition, having been named winners of the MTNA Chamber Music Competition, North American Saxophone Alliance Quartet Competition, and grand prize winners of the Coltman Chamber Music Competition. Additionally, Synchrony has been awarded the Anne D. Moran Silver Prize at the Chesapeake International Chamber Music Competition.

Committed to expanding the saxophone quartet repertoire, Synchrony Quartet is currently premiering a new work by Stacy Garrop, a Chicago-based composer whose music has been commissioned and performed by leading ensembles including the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. The quartet is also collaborating with the composition department at the Bienen School of Music, premiering and recording three newly commissioned works for saxophone quartet. Through projects such as these, Synchrony seeks to support emerging composers while contributing to the evolving landscape of contemporary saxophone music.

Equally versed in a wide range of musical styles, the Synchrony Quartet has developed a project in  which each member creates original arrangements and transcriptions of beloved classical works and popular music for saxophone quartet. By contributing their own selections, the ensemble curates a balanced program that expands the saxophone quartet repertoire with fresh additions.

Synchrony Quartet maintains a residency at Clara, a bar and performance space in Chicago’s Wicker Park neighborhood, where the ensemble presents innovative programs that bring new music into informal, community-centered performance environments. Recently, Synchrony was selected to present a featured recital at the International Navy Band Saxophone Symposium in Fairfax, Virginia, where the ensemble was highlighted by the conference as a “must-watch” group on the official event itinerary. The ensemble has performed around the country, with recent guest performances at the Peabody Conservatory, and guest artist residencies at Sam Houston State University and James Madison University.

Synchrony Quartet is comprised of Philip Kleutgens (soprano saxophone), Hudson O’Reilly (alto saxophone), Matthew Johnson (tenor saxophone), and Haven Kahn (baritone saxophone).