June 12, 2026
At its June 10 meeting, Kaufman Music Center’s Board of Trustees elected five new members: Ken Feyder, Sari Luck Schneider, Raheel Siddiqui, Stephanie Yoshida and Vesal Yazdi.
Board Chair Orli Shaham said, “We are delighted to welcome these five exceptional new trustees to Kaufman Music Center’s Board. Each of them brings a remarkable combination of expertise, lived experience, and passion for the arts that will deepen our work at the governance level. Their insight into technology, education, finance, and philanthropy will help guide the Center through an exciting period of growth, ensuring that our mission remains strong and responsive to the needs of our community.”
President and CEO Tony Mazzocchi said, “Ken, Sari, Raheel, Stephanie, and Vesal already understand what makes Kaufman Music Center such a distinctive place — they have experienced it firsthand as parents, learners, and committed supporters of music and the arts. They know the impact that a performance, a lesson, or a teacher can have on a young person’s life. I am excited to partner with them as we expand our reach, invest in our students and artists, and make sure we continue to be the best version of ourselves as an institution. They are poised to help position Kaufman Music Center as a model for what is possible in education when music is at the center of how young people learn, grow, and see themselves in the world.”
New Trustees
KEN FEYDER
Ken Feyder is a senior technology executive with nearly 30 years of progressive leadership experience in the retail technology industry. He currently serves as Head of IT for the Americas at Hermès, where he leads the company’s IT organization and drives strategic technology innovation in support of Hermès’ continued growth across the United States, Canada, Mexico, Brazil and Argentina. Prior to joining Hermès, he held leadership roles at several global retail brands, building a reputation for human-centered technology leadership, operational excellence and support for international expansion initiatives.
In addition to his corporate work, Feyder is a member of the Forbes Technology Council and serves on several industry advisory boards. He is passionate about mentoring and knowledge-sharing and has been invited to speak at global conferences including NRF APAC in Singapore and Shoptalk Luxe in Abu Dhabi, while also contributing to academia as a guest lecturer at Columbia Business School and Parsons School of Design. He holds an MBA from Franklin University, a BA in Economics from Binghamton University and also studied International Finance at the University of Oxford. He lives in New York City with his wife and two daughters, including one who attends Special Music School.
SARI LUCK SCHNEIDER
Sari Luck Schneider has devoted her career to early childhood education and Jewish communal life, bringing to her work a deep love of language, culture and the arts. She earned a double major in Hebrew and anthropology from the University of Wisconsin–Madison, spent her junior year studying at the Faculté de Lettres in southern France and later received a master’s degree in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of Wisconsin. Her more than 30-year professional career in early childhood education was rooted in New York City and defined by institution-building, thoughtful leadership and a strong commitment to children and families.
Schneider began teaching at Congregation Rodeph Sholom and went on to establish Columbus Pre-School on Columbus Avenue and 89th Street, where she served as director for four years. She later joined Temple Shaaray Tefila to create and lead its early childhood program, guiding it for 20 years until her retirement. Beyond her school leadership, she served for many years on the board of Early Childhood Educators of Reform Judaism, including a term as president, and was also deeply involved with ISAAGNY, where she held multiple offices and likewise served as president. She and her husband, Bob, have lived in New York City for more than five decades and have long been devoted patrons of theater and music.
RAHEEL SIDDIQUI
Raheel Siddiqui is Head of Markets Strategy and Insights at the Bank of New York, where he leads a team that helps clients interpret global economic and financial trends. He brings more than two decades of experience making complex ideas about markets, economics and human behavior accessible and useful to investors, most recently as a Managing Director at Neuberger Berman. He is regularly quoted in leading financial publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Barron’s and the Financial Times.
Siddiqui holds an MBA in Finance and Strategy from Columbia Business School and a graduate degree in Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology. His early academic work in artificial intelligence and physics helped shape a lasting commitment to independent and fundamental thinking. Outside of finance, he is a co-founder of a venture in the food and health space and is deeply engaged in questions of culture, education and how communities create meaning. A lover of world music and world cinema, he joined the board in part through his family’s connection to Special Music School, where his son is a student, and through his belief that music education helps shape not only better musicians but more rounded human beings.
STEPHANIE YOSHIDA
Stephanie Yoshida is a Principal at Ares Management, where she focuses on the formation of private equity secondaries funds. She began her career as an attorney at Kirkland & Ellis LLP before joining Landmark Partners, the private equity secondaries firm later acquired by Ares Management. Her professional background combines legal training, investment expertise and a long-standing commitment to arts advocacy.
A lifelong violinist, Yoshida has paired her professional career with sustained artistic and philanthropic engagement. She earned her J.D. cum laude from the University of Michigan Law School, where she founded the Law School Classical Music Society to present chamber music performances throughout the academic year. She received her undergraduate degree magna cum laude from the University of Notre Dame, where she served as Associate Concertmaster of the Notre Dame Symphony Orchestra, won the university’s Concerto Competition, and was also Station Manager of the local public radio station, hosting a weekly classical music request program. She currently serves on Carnegie Hall’s Notables Steering Committee and has already played an active role at Kaufman Music Center as a Leadership Council member, co-chair of the Day of Musical Action and dedicated supporter of the Center’s Pathways program.
VESAL YAZDI
Vesal Yazdi is an investor in public and private technology companies with experience across some of the financial sector’s most prominent investment firms. Most recently, he served as a Portfolio Manager managing more than $1 billion for Citadel’s fundamental equities business. Prior to Citadel, he built Davidson Kempner’s global technology equities investment practice and earlier held investing roles at Bessemer Venture Partners and Coatue Management. He received his MBA with Distinction from Harvard Business School and his BA in Economics from Columbia University, where he graduated magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa.
Yazdi’s connection to music has been both personal and sustained. He discovered the piano in high school and studied on scholarship at the School of Music at the Australian National University, and while at Columbia he participated in the university’s vocal training program. At Harvard Business School, he formulated the original business plan and strategy memo for the Tanglewood Learning Institute for the Boston Symphony Orchestra. He is also the parent of a student at Special Music School and has taken piano and violin lessons at Lucy Moses School. He believes deeply in the transformative power of music in the well-being and education of children and adults alike.
