Greg Kandel (1948-2024)
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Greg Kandel, visionary founder of The Evanston Theatre company (now Northlight Theatre), co-founder of the League of Chicago Theatres, faculty member at the Yale University David Geffen School of Drama, and head of one of the most impactful executive search consultants for the arts – has died at the age of 76.
Gregory Kandel, son of Benjamin and Beverly, was born in Queens NY, but he and his family ultimately landed in Roslyn, where he graduated from Roslyn High School in 1966. He then attended the University of Michigan, graduating with a BA in 1966 and then a Masters in Political Science in 1968. He later received an MFA from Northwestern University in 1974, with a visionary outcome of his MFA thesis being his longest lasting legacy to the Chicago theater world – Northlight Theatre Company. Greg's MFA and the Chicago-area served as the springboard for his professional career, where in 1974, he co-founded the Evanston Theatre Company (now Northlight Theatre). He was also a co-founder of the League of Chicago Theatres (LOCT) in 1979. Greg and his wife, Louise, returned to the East Coast in 1981 to be closer to family. In 1983, he founded Management Consultants for the Arts (MCA), based in Greenwich, CT. In his nearly four decades at MCA, Greg conducted hundreds of executive searches for both artistic and management-level leaders at performing arts organizations throughout the country, and was nationally recognized as an expert in working with Boards of Trustees and leading strategic planning processes. Greg served for years as a faculty member in theatre management at the David Geffen School of Drama at Yale University, while still consulting full-time. Greg's motivation to nurture a younger generation of arts practitioners committed to community-based, financially sustainable, performing arts companies, encapsulated two other foundational principles that undergirded his life: an everlasting commitment to teaching and mentoring, and unwavering selflessness. Afflicted by Alzheimer's in the early 2020s, Greg slowed down but his unmistakably genuine, steadfast commitment to family, teaching, mentoring, selflessness, and community, endured. He passed away on April 18, 2024, survived by his wife Louise, brother Rich, sons Matthew and Daniel, daughters-in-law Jules and Lakshmi, and grandsons Logan, Benjamin, Dylan, Joseph and Richard. May his memory be a blessing. |