Brown Arts

Emil J. Kang serves as program director for Arts and Culture at The Mellon Foundation where he leads the grantmaking program of the largest funder of the arts and humanities in the nation. Emil previously served as executive and artistic director of Carolina Performing Arts at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, a major multi-disciplinary performing arts program he founded in 2005.  While in that role, he oversaw four venues and produced, developed, and presented work by artists from all over the world.  He also served as professor of the practice in the department of music.  In 2016, Emil was also named special assistant to the chancellor for the arts and founded Arts Everywhere, a major campus and community-wide initiative dedicated to integrating artistic practice, learning, and engagement in the lives of the entire community.  Emil serves on the National Council on the Arts, having been appointed by President Barack Obama in 2012. Emil has served and led many boards including the Martha Graham Dance Company, the International Society for the Performing Arts, the Association of Performing Arts Professionals, and the North Carolina School of the Arts, among others. In prior years, Emil served in a variety of administrative roles with symphony orchestras across the country, including as president and executive director of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra.  He has also held roles with the Seattle Symphony, the American Composers Orchestra and served as an orchestra management fellow with the symphony orchestras of San Francisco, Houston, and Grand Rapids. A violinist from a young age, Emil holds a degree in Economics from the University of Rochester (New York).