Caroline Stoessinger, a pianist, has appeared on the stages of Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center and for twenty-five years has performed with the Tokyo String Quartet and the Brooklyn Philharmonic Orchestra. Stoessinger produced the televised dedication of the Schindler violin at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum and the first New York production of Brundibár. She has played in concert halls from Tokyo and Prague to Spillville, Iowa, and for many years served as the artistic director at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine. She is artistic director of chamber music at the Tilles Center, artist-in-residence at John Jay College, director of the Newberry Chamber Players at the Newberry Opera House, and founder and president of the Mozart Academy. She lives in New York City.
Caroline Stoessinger has brought people together through music, art and literature for such diverse organizations as The Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity, United Nations, UNICEF, Boston University, University of Massachusetts, Young President’s Organization, Mutual of America, Chief Executives Forum, World President’s Organization, Forum 2000 and for the Governments of France, South Africa, Israel, and the Czech Republic. She was honored by the New York Times for her distinguished programs, received the Bravo Award from the Brooklyn Philharmonic Orchestra for her artistic service to the community and a presidential medal of honor from President Havel for service to his nation. May 15, 2010, Mayor Bloomberg presented Stoessinger with the American Dreamer Visionary Award for her work with immigrants. Itzhak Perlman presented Stoessinger with the Norman Mailer Book Award in a ceremony at the National Arts Club on April 30, 2012, for the book, A Century of Wisdom.
The New York Times described pianist Stoessinger’s performance as, “inspired music-making…… the music often seemed to emanate from a luminous dream.” The Denver Post called her, ” a concert artist of major stature and exquisite sensitivity,”… and the evening itself one of “ warmth, tenderness, and poetic eloquence.” In New York City, Stoessinger has performed on the stages of Carnegie Hall, the 92nd Y, Lincoln Center and The Metropolitan Museum of Art Stoessinger has performed as piano soloist with the American Symphony, Oslo Philharmonic, Brooklyn Philharmonic, Prague Symphony, Czech Philharmonic and Orchestra of St. Lukes. Lukas Foss composed Elegy for Anne Frank for piano and orchestra for Stoessinger who premiered the work with the composer conducting. Stoessinger has performed repeatedly over the past 25 years with the Tokyo Quartet and also with Shanghai, Mendelssohn, Vermeer, Brentano, Blair, Manhattan, Talich, Kocian, and Stamiz String Quartets, as well as in recitals with Jamie Laredo, Frederica Von Stade, and Simon Estes.
Random House has published Stoessinger’s book, A Century of Wisdom, about the world’s oldest Holocaust Survivor and pianist March 20, 2012. It will be published simultaneously in England, and in translation in 23 other countries including China, Turkey, Brazil and throughout Europe.
Stoessinger has produced and written the scripts for numerous national and internationally televised films and public musical events on behalf of corporations, philanthropic organizations, universities, the City of New York and the governments of the United States, South Africa, Italy, Israel and the Czech Republic. She brought together President Bill Clinton, President Vaclav Havel and Elie Wiesel for an evening of conversation with the participation of Caroline Kennedy and Toni Morrison at the CUNY Graduate Center. Stoessinger produced the internationally televised, Concert from Prague, with music by the Czech Philharmonic and featuring narrators James Earl Jones, Gregory Peck, Lynn Redgrave with soloists Maxim Vengerov, Misha Maisky and Barbara Hendricks; The Concert from Oslo for the Nobel Committee with Audrey Hepburn, Frederica Von Stade, James Galway, and Simon Estes; Playing for Life for the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington with Jessye Norman; The UNICEF Tribute to Audrey Hepburn at the United Nations; The American Tribute to Vaclav Havel with Placido Domingo, Paul Newman, Paul Simon, Harry Belafonte, The New York Philharmonic, Zubin Mehta and Dizzy Gillespie; and as Artistic Director of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, the annual New Year’s Eve Concert for Peace narrated by Jason Robards and attended by a capacity audience of ten thousand. Recently her productions have included the inauguration of Governor Spitzer of New York and President Havel’s Forum 2000 Conference in Prague.
As Director of Legacy Programs, Stoessinger has produced numerous musical events for corporations and governments, including programs for the World Economic Forum, events for JP Morgan Chase including programs for the International Monetary Fund Conference, Tributes to Teddy Kollek, the Dalai Lama, Nelson Mandela, James Baldwin, Alvin Ailey, Oscar Arias, F.W. de Klerk and Archbishop Desmond Tutu, The Hiroshima Remembrance, The Gulf War Memorial with speakers and artists including Generals Colin Powell and Schwarzkopf, Cicely Tyson, Danny Glover and the Brooklyn Philharmonic Orchestra. Her upcoming September productions include a New York Gala honoring President and Mrs. Nicolas Sarkozy of France, a concert honoring Elie Wiesel’s birthday at Boston University and a program for Prix Galien. She is producing and writing a documentary film about Alice Herz-Sommer which is scheduled for release in 2013.
Stoessinger served as a Director of the Karlovy Vary Film Festival for five years and was associate director of the Forbidden Films Festival for Joe Papp’s Theater. In June 2009 Stoessinger served as Artistic Director of the Shoah Legacy International Film Festival in Prague which was sponsored by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Government of the Czech Republic.
Stoessinger is an authority on the life and compositions of Sir Georg Henschel, the first conductor of the Boston Symphony. Her biography of Henschel’s friendship with Brahms is titled Henschel’s Diary. Stoessinger produced the first staged performance in America of Mozart’s chamber opera, Il Sogno Di Scipione and the first professional performance of the opera Brundibar in New York City. Most recently, she wrote and produced Notes from the Heart, which starred Zoe Caldwell in its first performance. Ms. Stoessinger produced and scripted programs for the annual Congressional Club Gala in Washington, D.C.
Stoessinger has served as Artistic Director, pianist, and host of Long Island University’s Tilles Center’s sold-out chamber series since its inception in 1988, and is Artistic Director of the Newberry Opera House Chamber Music Series in South Carolina.
In 2003 she was appointed Founding Director of Great Music For A Great City, called “an invaluable series” by The New York Times, at the Graduate Center of The City University of New York. Author of numerous articles published in the New York Times, the Daily News, Denver Post and The Arkansas Gazette.
Caroline Stoessinger is President and Director of The Mozart Academy sponsored by the Shelley and Donald Rubin Foundation which provides tuition-free private instruction in violin, cello, and piano for immigrant children and children of United Nations workers who would otherwise miss the opportunity. She served as Director of the Henry Street School of Music, Founder and General Director of the Henry Street Chamber Opera Company and was head of the music department at the Brearley School. She has taught at the Eastman School of Music, Colorado School of Mines and currently is a professor of music and Artist-In-Residence at John Jay College of Criminal Justice. Since 2004 she has served as a Program Director of the Wealth and Giving Forum, a collaborative of Rockefeller Philanthropies where she produced events featuring Queen Noor, Bill Moyers, Fareed Zakaria and Jessye Norman. She has served as director of programs for the Alliance for Global Good. Currently, She is a consultant to the Shelley and Donald Rubin Foundation.
Stoessinger has spoken for the International Young President’s Organization on four continents for fifteen years consistently garnering top ratings. As a result, she has been invited to address the World Business Council, Chief Executives Forum and numerous international corporations including IBM worldwide. Her most popular talks have been for general and corporate audiences.
Caroline Stoessinger has brought people together through music, art and literature for such diverse organizations as The Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity, United Nations, UNICEF, Boston University, University of Massachusetts, Young President’s Organization, Mutual of America, Chief Executives Forum, World President’s Organization, Forum 2000 and for the Governments of France, South Africa, Israel, and the Czech Republic. She was honored by the New York Times for her distinguished programs, received the Bravo Award from the Brooklyn Philharmonic Orchestra for her artistic service to the community and a presidential medal of honor from President Havel for service to his nation. May 15, 2010, Mayor Bloomberg presented Stoessinger with the American Dreamer Visionary Award for her work with immigrants. Itzhak Perlman presented Stoessinger with the Norman Mailer Book Award in a ceremony at the National Arts Club on April 30, 2012.
Through her writings and public speaking, Caroline Stoessinger has achieved recognition as a major voice for the arts in America. Stoessinger is a member of the National Committee on American Foreign Policy, a board member of President Havel’s International Friends of Forum 2000, President de Klerk’s Global-Leadership-Foundation and of the Musician’s Club of New York and is an alumnae of Barnard College and received her master of music degree from the Eastman School of Music.