BMC Leadership


Jason Posnock

Jason Posnock, President and CEO

Jason Posnock is President & CEO of the Brevard Music Center. He previously served as BMC's Vice President & Chief Artistic Officer, where he managed the artistic, educational, and marketing departments of one this country's premier classical music festivals and training programs. His administrative responsibilities have included roles in development, institutional advancement, communications, human resources, DEIB initiatives, and strategic planning. For over a decade Posnock has overseen the Festival programming of more than 80 concerts each summer, and has worked closely with Artistic Director Keith Lockhart to breathe life into Brevard's teaching and performing mission.

As a concert violinist, Mr. Posnock has enjoyed a versatile musical career both in the United States and internationally, having performed regularly in such prominent American ensembles as the Philadelphia Orchestra and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. Concertmaster of the Asheville Symphony from 2007-2023, Posnock is also an active chamber musician and recitalist, having appeared in venues throughout the United States, England, Puerto Rico, and India, collaborating with such renowned artists as Emanuel Ax, David Krakauer, Roberto Díaz, Ursula Oppens, Andrés Cárdenes, Andrés Díaz, and the American Chamber Players. In addition to his performance schedule, Jason has devoted much of his time to teaching, coaching, and working with young musicians at the beginning, intermediate, and collegiate levels.

Originally from New Jersey, Posnock attended Princeton University, graduating with honors. He went on to earn his ARCM(PG) from the Royal College of Music, London, and completed the Performance Residency Program at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. Most recently, Posnock received his MBA from the College of Business at the University of Nebraska. He lives in beautiful Brevard, NC, with his wife, flutist and BMC faculty member Dilshad Posnock, and their two children Max and Lylah.

A New Era of Leadership


Keith Lockhart

Keith Lockhart, Artistic Director

Keith Lockhart has been Artistic Director of the Brevard Music Center Summer Institute and Festival since 2007. Lockhart's appointment solidified an already special relationship with BMC; having attended as a teenager for two summers (1974, 1975), Lockhart was first featured as a guest conductor in 1996 and had since returned numerous times before his appointment.

Keith has served as Conductor of the Boston Pops since 1995, a tenure that includes nearly two thousand performances, forty-five national tours to more than 150 cities, and four international tours. He and the Pops have made eighty television shows and participated in such high-profile sporting events as Super Bowl XXXVI, the 2008 NBA finals, the 2013 Boston Red Sox Ring Ceremony, and the 2018 World Series.

From 2010-2018, Keith was Principal Conductor of the BBC Concert Orchestra, since which time he has served as Chief Guest Conductor. Highlights of his tenure include critically acclaimed North American tours, conducting annual performances at The Proms, and celebrating the orchestra's 60th year in 2012. In June of that same year, Keith conducted the orchestra during Queen Elizabeth II's gala Diamond Jubilee Concert, which was broadcast around the world.

Keith concluded eleven seasons as Music Director of the Utah Symphony in 2009. Additionally, Keith has conducted nearly every major orchestra in North America, as well as the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, Czech Philharmonic, Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome, Vienna Radio Symphony, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, the NHK Symphony in Tokyo, Hong Kong Philharmonic, and the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. In October 2012, he made his London Philharmonic debut in Royal Albert Hall. In the opera pit, Keith has conducted productions with the Atlanta Opera, Washington Opera, Boston Lyric Opera, and Utah Opera.

Born in Poughkeepsie, NY, Keith began his musical studies on piano at the age of seven, and holds degrees from Furman University and Carnegie Mellon University; Keith also holds honorary doctorates from the Boston Conservatory, Boston University, Northeastern University, Furman University, and Carnegie Mellon University, among others. He was the 2006 recipient of the Bob Hope Patriot Award from the Congressional Medal of Honor Society, and was a recipient of the 2017 Commonwealth Award, Massachusetts' highest cultural honor.


Board of Trustees

Bill Hackney, Chair
Atlanta, GA

Mike Abney
Brevard, NC

Betsy Barefoot
Brevard, NC

Bruce Berryhill
Cashiers, NC

Thomas C. Bolton
Asheville, NC

Charlotte Cameron
McLean, VA

John S. Candler
Brevard, NC

Edie Cecil
Asheville, NC

Martha Coursey
Atlanta, GA

T. Kenneth Cribb, Jr.
Spartanburg, SC

Pat Crull
Charlotte, NC

Jerusha Fadial
Charlotte, NC

Falls Harris
Greenville, SC

Sue Henderson
Winston Salem, NC

Rich Jacobs
Lake Toxaway, NC

Phillip Jerome
Pisgah Forest, NC

Blake-Anthony Johnson
Chicago, IL

Katie Loeb-Schwab
Marco Island, FL

Ruby Morgan
Greenville, SC

Bob Olsen
Nashville, TN

Laurie Ombres
Tequesta, FL

Mary Owen
Asheville, NC

Helen C. Peery
Charlotte, NC

Barb Steadman
Brevard, NC

Linda Thompson
Pisgah Forest, NC

Charles Weiss
Palm Coast, FL

M. Beattie Wood
Atlanta, GA


Trustees Emeriti

Wilbur Boswell III
Hendersonville, NC

Dr. Robert H. Dowdeswell
Flat Rock, NC

Mitchell Watson
West Palm Beach, FL