Lesley Rosenthal

Lesley Rosenthal is a transformative leader in arts and nonprofit management, with a distinguished career at the intersection of law, governance, education, and cultural diplomacy. Since 2018, she has served as Chief Operating Officer and Corporate Secretary of The Juilliard School, where she oversees operations, administration, revenue, and corporate governance. A strategic force behind Juilliard’s artistic divisions—music, opera, dance, and drama—Rosenthal has spearheaded major initiatives in international arts education, video and livestreaming, pandemic resilience, and more. 

From 2005 to 2018, she was Executive Vice President, General Counsel, and Secretary of Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. There, she led all legal affairs for one of the world’s foremost cultural complexes, home to 11 major arts organizations. Among her signature achievements was laying the legal groundwork for the landmark $1.2 billion redevelopment of Lincoln Center’s 16.3-acre campus—transforming it into a vibrant, inclusive, and future-ready space for artistic expression. 

A bold advocate for artists under threat, Rosenthal made history in 2021 as President of the Friends of the Afghanistan National Institute of Music. She co-led the daring rescue of the entire school—273 students, faculty, and staff—from Taliban danger, orchestrating their evacuation to Doha and ultimately securing asylum in Portugal. It remains the largest airlift of endangered musicians ever undertaken. 

Rosenthal is a magna cum laude graduate of Harvard College and earned her law degree from Harvard Law School. From 2014 to 2020, she served on the Harvard University Board of Overseers, where she provided strategic guidance to the university and chaired the Board’s Arts & Humanities Committee. She was also elected Vice Chair of the Board during her tenure. 

She is the author of Good Counsel: Meeting the Legal Needs of Nonprofits (Wiley, 2012), a bestselling guide for nonprofit leaders, and is widely published on topics of law, governance, and mission-driven leadership. A sought-after educator, she has taught and guest lectured at institutions including Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Georgetown Law, Juilliard, University of Chicago, and University of Miami. She is a life member of the Council on Foreign Relations. 

In 2025, Rosenthal will be awarded the Maria Callas Festival Medal in Verona, Italy, recognizing her distinguished contributions to the arts. Her leadership and humanitarian work have also been honored by the National Organization for Women, Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts, the New York State Bar Association, and others. 

A practicing artist herself, she is co-librettist (with her husband, jazz pianist Ted Rosenthal) of Dear Erich, a jazz opera on human rights themes premiered by New York City Opera in 2019. She co-founded the Park Avenue Chamber Symphony and performs regularly as a violinist and violist. Her paintings, photography, and essays on culture, law, and civic purpose have appeared in exhibitions and publications in the U.S., Europe, and online.