The Music Center Welcomes Six Prominent Los Angeles Business and Community Leaders to its Board of Directors: Charlene Achki-Repko, Alberto Carvalho, Riley Etheridge, Jonathan Hodge, Kelsey Martin and Susan Erburu Reardon
LOS ANGELES (July 30, 2024) — The Board of Directors of The Music Center today announced the appointment of Los Angeles Unified School District Superintendent Alberto Carvalho and financial services executives Riley Etheridge, Jonathan Hodge and Kelsey Martin to The Music Center Board. In addition, Charlene Achki-Repko and Susan Erburu Reardon join The Music Center Board as designees of The Music Center’s support organization Center Dance Arts and The Music Center resident company partner the Los Angeles Master Chorale, respectively. As one of the nation’s largest performing arts organizations, The Music Center presents world-class dance performances, nationally recognized K–12 arts learning programs, digital arts experiences and free and low-cost public concerts and events. Additionally, The Music Center manages an expansive campus, including four theatres, Jerry Moss Plaza and Gloria Molina Grand Park on behalf of the County of Los Angeles.
"The newest members of our Board of Directors have a deep respect for the arts as well as a deep commitment to The Music Center’s mission to enrich the cultural lives of every resident in Los Angeles County. Just as impressive, these six new members have made their own impact on the communities we serve, forging indelible relationships with many of the residents who comprise our diverse county,” said Cindy Miscikowski, board chair of The Music Center. “As The Music Center celebrates its 60th year, these new appointees, with their expertise, will help catapult L.A.’s premier performing arts center into the next six decades that will be filled with even more unrivaled arts experiences for all Angelenos and high quality, diverse programming that can be found only at The Music Center."
Charlene Achki-Repko joins The Music Center’s Board of Directors as a designee of The Music Center’s support group Center Dance Arts (CDA), a dynamic community of patrons with a passion for dance. CDA helps promote The Music Center’s world-class dance performances, educational outreach and free and low-cost community dance experiences. Dance has always been Achki-Repko’s love, whether as a patron or a participant. Growing up in Fresno, California, she took lessons in various dance forms, including ballet, tap and jazz. Currently, she continues to hone her tap dancing skills by taking lessons alongside two of her fellow CDA members! Prior to joining CDA and The Music Center Board, Achki-Repko led an accomplished career in the magazine media industry. She held various management roles with Dow Jones & Company, The Wall Street Journal and Hearst Magazines, one of the world’s largest publishers of magazine media across all platforms. During her tenure at Hearst, Achki-Repko worked on the launches of several new magazine brands, which still thrive today, including SmartMoney, Food Network Magazine, HGTV Magazine and O, The Oprah Magazine. Now retired, she serves on several boards, including the USC Glorya Kaufman School of Dance, SHARE4Children and Everybody Dance LA!, where she serves as Chairman of the Board. Achki-Repko resides in Bel Air and holds a bachelor of science degree in business, management and finance from USC Marshall School of Business.
Los Angeles Unified School District Superintendent Alberto Carvalho attended a school system in his native Portugal that was committed to providing arts and music education to all students, regardless of their socioeconomic background. His early introduction to the arts would mold his creative expression tremendously; in high school, Carvalho joined a rock band to play percussion and fronted as its lead singer, belting out songs by The Beatles and Queen, among others. As a member of The Music Center’s Board of Directors, Carvalho strives to ensure the performing arts play a pivotal role in young Angelenos’ lives as much as it influenced his. In June 2022, four months after he began serving as superintendent, the school district launched the Cultural Arts Passport program aimed at providing students in grades TK-12 with a diverse range of cultural and artistic experiences through collaborations with cultural institutions, including The Music Center. Carvalho and LAUSD’s dedication to arts education would have made The Music Center’s founder Dorothy Buffum Chandler very proud. Sixty years ago, Chandler emphasized the value of bringing the arts to as many local students as possible. Carvalho holds a bachelor’s degree in biology from Barry University and resides in Los Angeles with his wife Maria and their poodle Julio.
Susan Erburu Reardon joins The Music Center’s Board of Directors as a designee of the Los Angeles Master Chorale (LAMC), one of The Music Center’s resident company partners, which is celebrating its historic 60th anniversary season. Recently, Reardon was appointed LAMC’s Chair of the Board of Directors. She became involved with the Grammy® Award-winning LAMC by joining its board in 1992 and serving for 27 years until 2019. She is principal of True North Charitable Advising, which she established to provide philanthropic guidance to individuals and consulting services to nonprofit organizations, particularly those focused on culture and the arts. Reardon previously served as the LA Phil’s director of gift planning from 2013 to 2022, where she created and managed a reinvigorated legacy giving program. She spent 15 years with KCET (now part of PBS SoCal), joining in 1997 as senior vice president, general counsel, and later chief development officer, overseeing fundraising efforts. She has more than four decades’ experience as an attorney, including 17 years as a firm litigation partner with Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher. Reardon holds both a juris doctor degree and a bachelor of arts degree from Harvard University. She also serves on the Board of Directors for America’s Public Television Stations (APTS), Lorelei Ensemble, Idyllwild Arts Foundation, PBS SoCal and the Pfaffinger Foundation. Reardon and her husband George live in South Pasadena.
When the opportunity arose to join The Music Center’s Board of Directors, Riley Etheridge, president of Capital Group’s North American Wealth Management Client Group, gladly accepted the invitation. Etheridge’s financial services company has enjoyed a longstanding corporate relationship with The Music Center, and the arts have been a major source of joy in his life. His father is a banjo player, his brother is a classical pianist and Etheridge himself is an acclaimed musician—he has recorded five albums that blend rock, country, blues, soul and folk. Since moving to Los Angeles in 2018, Etheridge has been impressed by The Music Center’s ongoing work to provide free arts and low-cost events and performances to all communities throughout Los Angeles County, including The Music Center’s Arts Grown L.A. and outdoor concerts on Jerry Moss Plaza at the Music Center such as Live at The Music Center and The Music Center’s Summer SoundWaves. While studying at Louisiana State University, he quickly discovered how the region thrived on live music and music festivals; now, as a Music Center Board member, he looks forward to helping create that magic at L.A.’s performing arts destination. Etheridge, who earned a bachelor’s degree in history from Louisiana State University, lives in Hancock Park with his partner Maria Moyer.
By the time he was introduced by Bank of America leadership to The Music Center’s Board of Directors, Jonathan Hodge was already familiar with the performing arts destination’s vital work. The wealth management manager, for example, was impressed by the young performers’ immense talent at The Music Center’s Spotlight Grand Finale in 2023; earlier this year, he experienced the wondrous dance works performed by the acclaimed Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. What sealed the deal for Hodge to join the Board was The Music Center’s mission to enrich the cultural lives of every resident in Los Angeles County. He believes the arts are vital to humanity and is ready to introduce more members of the BIPOC community to The Music Center’s diverse programming. When the Connecticut native moved to Los Angeles in 1998, one of his first jobs was working for a ticket brokering company. This experience helped shape his appreciation for the arts, from LA Phil and Glorya Kaufman Presents Dance at The Music Center to local museums. Earning a bachelor’s degree in economics from Boston University, Hodge resides in the Hollywood Dell neighborhood with his two daughters, Amalia and Elsie, and their beloved dogs, Aspen and Ollie. He is engaged to Lea Sandoval, senior vice president of asset management at Kilroy Realty Corporation.
Kelsey Martin of financial services company Goldman Sachs did not realize until later, as an adult, how fortunate he was to have early exposure as a youth to the performing arts. The Cleveland native is grateful for the opportunity to have enrolled in an arts magnet school, where he participated in musical theatre, attended performances by the Cleveland Orchestra and marveled at exhibits at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, among others. Today, Martin considers the arts and creative expression as parts of his DNA, and he is thrilled to join The Music Center Board as a designee of The Music Center Foundation. Sought after for his investment experience and leadership, Martin serves on the Foundation’s Board of Directors and chairs its investment committee. He earned an M.B.A. in finance and accounting from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and a bachelor’s degree in economics from the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis. Coupled with his military background and his upbringing in a compassionate family, Martin is at his best when providing service to the community. He and wife Jennifer live on the Westside and enjoy sharing their love of the performing arts with their three daughters.
ABOUT THE MUSIC CENTER
The Music Center convenes artists, communities and ideas with the goal of deepening the cultural lives of every resident in Los Angeles County. Celebrating its 60th year in 2024, the $80 million non-profit performing arts organization has two divisions: TMC Arts and TMC Ops. TMC Arts, The Music Center’s programming engine, provides year-round programming inside The Music Center’s four theatres, on Jerry Moss Plaza, outside at Gloria Molina Grand Park—a 12-acre adjacent green space—in schools and other locations all over Los Angeles County. TMC Arts presents world-class dance with Glorya Kaufman Presents Dance at The Music Center, free and low-cost public concerts and events, as well as live and digital K–12 arts education programs, workshops, performances, interactive experiences and special events. TMC Ops manages the theatres, the Plaza and Gloria Molina Grand Park, which comprise $3 billion in county assets, on behalf of the County of Los Angeles. The Music Center is also home to four renowned resident companies—Center Theatre Group, Los Angeles Master Chorale, LA Opera and LA Phil. For more information, visit musiccenter.org and follow The Music Center on social media @MusicCenterLA.
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