Anne Berquist

Opera Grand Rapids Executive Director Anne Berquist is an international arts administrator and a professional musician. Her extensive international experience in team leadership, expansion of organizational awareness, and relationship building has established a reputation for artistic excellence and innovation.

A native of France, Ms. Berquist moved to the United States in 2001 to become the Artistic Director and Chief Executive Officer of Fontana Chamber Arts in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Under her leadership, the program flourished artistically and financially. In addition to earning the anchor organization designation by the Michigan Council for the Arts and Cultural Affairs, Fontana Chamber Arts received National Awards for Adventurous Programming. In 2008, Ms. Berquist became the Executive Director of the Arts Council of Greater Kalamazoo and the Kalamazoo Culture Center and was named President & CEO of the Ann Arbor School for the Performing Arts in 2010. In 2012 she became the Executive Director of the Atlantic Classical Orchestra, a Florida based professional classical orchestra.

Previous posts include serving as Director of Administration and Director of Studies at the Conservatoire National de Region d’Amiens in France, serving in the Management Department at the Theatre du Chatelet in Paris, France, and as Professor of Cello and Chamber music at the Conservatory of Versailles and Saint-Malo.

An accomplished cellist, Ms. Berquist brings with her experience as a musician in addition to experience in managing arts organizations. She has won prizes in cello and chamber music at National Music Conservatories and the Ecole Normale of Paris, holds a Master of Music in Cello Performance from the University of Missouri, and received an M.B.A. from the University of Paris, La Sorbonne.