Emil J. Kang

Emil J. Kang is program director for Arts and Culture at the Mellon Foundation, leading grantmaking that celebrates the power of the arts to challenge, activate, and nourish the human spirit.

Emil previously served as executive and artistic director of Carolina Performing Arts at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, a major multidisciplinary performing arts program he founded in 2005. He also served as professor of the practice of music and was named special assistant to the chancellor for the arts and founded Arts Everywhere, a campus- and community-wide initiative dedicated to integrating artistic practice, learning, and engagement in the lives of the entire community. In prior years, Emil worked with symphony orchestras across the country, including as president and executive director of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, as well as with the Seattle Symphony, San Francisco Symphony, Houston Symphony, Grand Rapids Symphony, and the American Composers Orchestra.

In 2012, President Barack Obama appointed him to the National Council on the Arts. Emil serves on the board of the International Society for the Performing Arts and is a former board member of the Martha Graham Dance Company.

He holds a BA in economics from the University of Rochester and has completed programs at Harvard Business School and the Center for Creative Leadership.