Haruko Smith
Founder and Chairman
In addition to The September Concert, Smith is a full-time COO of Felissimo Universal Corporation of America. She directs DESIGN 21: Social Design Network, a joint venture with UNESCO, which promotes Design for the Greater Good (www.design21sdn.com) and its companion website, Social Designer (www.socialdesigner.com). Under her leadership, Felissimo’s landmark townhouse has also long been a home to many creative ideas, products and exhibitions, as well as a venue for socially and culturally significant events. Smith also serves as Director of the UNESCO/Tribute 21 Fund, overseeing the launch of DREAM (Dance, Read, Express Art, Music) Centers for children in post-conflict regions of the world. Since 2002, DREAM Center has opened in Kabul (Afghanistan), Port-au-Prince (Haiti), Phnom Penh (Cambodia), Monrovia (Liberia) and East Jerusalem. In 2005 she was a New Yorker of the Week on NY1, and a nominee for NY Public Library's Brooke Astor Award. She received Community Service Award from the Asian American Foundation in 2007, and Culture Machine Award in 2009.

Jacques d'Amboise
Director, Dancer, Choreographer and Founder of National Dance Institute
Jacques is a world renowned American ballet dancer and choreographer. He was a principal dancer with the New York City Ballet, where ballets were especially created for him by famous choreographer George Balanchine. Additionally he choreographed ballets for the New York City Ballet. Jacques d'Amboise founded the National Dance Institute, which teaches school children how to dance. A documentary film about Jacques d'Amboise and the National Dance Institute won an Academy Award. Jacques d'Amboise has received many honors and awards, including a Kennedy Center Honors Award, a National Medal of the Arts, and a New York Governor's Award.

Beth Browde, President of Browde Communications
Beth runs her own consulting firm specializing in marketing, communication, organizational change, and executive coaching. Before launching Browde Communications, Beth headed strategic communications for Ci2i; served as manager in the Business Strategy practice at Answerthink Consulting; and headed firm-wide communication at KPMG. In 2004 Beth started a not-for-profit, The Millennium Initiative, through which she has worked with Jeffrey Sachs to help to engage individuals, communities and the business sector to achieve the Millennium Development Goals. Before Beth’s corporate engagements she began life in the arts, studying with famed music teacher, Nadia Boulanger and achieving modest success first as a singer, later as a classical guitarist, and finally as an actress and writer. Beth’s writing has appeared in Harper’s Magazine, New York Magazine and a number of business publications. Her plays have been produced off-Broadway and in regional theaters.

Milagros del Corral, Ph.D.
Director-General of the National Library of Spain and Chairperson of the National Commission for Digitization of Cultural Contents, Ministry of Culture, Spain
Formerly Deputy-Assistant Director General for Culture at UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) in Paris, Ms. Del Corral has had a long and successful career in information science, publishing, and arts & cultural industries, holding many key public positions. She speaks 6 languages and is an accomplished classical pianist. She lives in Madrid and spends her vacations in her second home in Popayan, Columbia.

John Daly Goodwin
Conductor & Music Director for New York Choral Society
John Goodwin is a world famous conductor and music director. He has conducted more than ninety concerts in and around New York City alone, including thirty performances in Carnegie Hall and six at Lincoln Center, and he has led eight international concert tours at music festivals and major concert halls in Europe and Asia. He has conducted for many national television broadcasts including the 1998 Grammy Awards from Rockefeller Center, the Richard Tucker Music Foundation Gala from Lincoln Center, a July 4th concert from Liberty State Park with Andrea Bocelli, and numerous appearances on the Today Show on NBC. He is the music director of the New York Choral Society, on the music faculty at New York University, and also a founding member of the professional vocal quartet A Viva Voce.

Darryl Pottorf
Artist
Darryl Pottorf has been creating complex, inspiring works for more than 30 years, continuously pushing the boundaries of his medium and subject matter. He has traveled extensively, and his work reflects his love of classical and architectural forms. (He is a practicing architect. He has designed Robert Rauschenberg's home and studio as well as his own, and continues to design both residential and commercial spaces.) Pottorf's work has been exhibited at major galleries and museums throughout the world. He has also collaborated with Robert Rauschenberg on a series of outstanding exhibitions. He is now President of The Robert Rauschenberg Foundation, and lives and works in Captiva, Florida.

Rebecca Seawright
Attorney at Law
Rebecca Seawright is an attorney with a practice specializing in Charitable Gift Annuity Licensing. She is the former Assistant District Attorney in Kings County and former Executive Director of the Texas Women's Political Caucus.

Taro Patrick Smith Ph.D.
Treasurer
A University of Colorado graduate, Dr. Smith has over 10 years combined experience in business management, market development, and biomedical research. His specialty is in translational science (bench to bedside research) bridging the gap between scientific ideas and the market. He has participated in the formation, development, and funding of several start-ups within the medical industry. Previously, Dr. Smith served as the Chief Operating Officer a medical provider network. He is a competitive bicycle racer and ski product tester.

Sundaram Tagore
Curator & Gallery Owner
Sundaram is a New York-based curator and gallery owner. He promotes East-West dialogues through multicultural and multidisciplinary exhibitions and events. Previously a director at Pace Wildenstein, Sundaram has worked with many international organizations including The Peggy Guggenheim Foundation, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the MOMA, New York; the United Nations; and the National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi. In 1999, he was nominated by Avenue magazine as one of the 100 Most Influential Asian-Americans in the United States.

In memoriam
Robert Rauschenberg (1925 - 2008)

"The irrepressibly prolific American artist who time and again reshaped art in the 20th century, died on Monday night at his home on Captiva Island, Fla. He was 82."