Carnegie Hall laments 35-year board member

The Board of Carnegie Hall have posted the following notice in Sunday’s New York Times about their late colleague Gilbert Kaplan, who died on Friday. Gil was a board member for just under half his life.

The Board of Trustees and staff of Carnegie Hall mourn the passing of our dear friend and colleague Gilbert Kaplan, passionate music lover and devoted and beloved husband of Lena. Gil joined the Carnegie Hall Board of Trustees in 1980, and served the Hall with devotion for more than thirty-five years. Gil brought his financial acumen and keen insight to Carnegie Hall’s management as a longstanding member of the Finance and Operations Committee, where he helped govern major institutional advances from the restoration of Carnegie Hall to the creation of an education center. Following his successful career in business and journalism, Gil became a celebrated scholar of Gustav Mahler, establishing the Kaplan Foundation and conducting Mahler’s Second Symphony with leading orchestras around the world. Gil was invited by the Vienna Philharmonic to conduct the original version of Mahler’s Second Symphony and his recordings of the Symphony with the London Symphony Orchestra and the Vienna Philharmonic were very successful. Gil demonstrated his deep love and knowledge of music every season as a frequent concertgoer, and many members of the Carnegie Hall’s family were honored to be guests on Gil’s acclaimed radio program “Mad About Music.” We will always remember Gil for his warmth, musical scholarship, and his love of Carnegie Hall. We express our heartfelt condolences to his wife, Lena, and his devoted children Kristina, Claude, John, and Emily, and their families and loved ones. 
Sanford I. Weill, President; Mercedes Bass, Acting Chairman; Clive Gillinson, Executive and Artistic Director