Kay Gardner

Kay Gardner joined the Dallas Symphony in 1972. Before moving to Dallas, she held positions with the Wichita Symphony, Oklahoma City Symphony and the American Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Leopold Stokowski. She also served as principal viola with the North Carolina Symphony and assistant principal with the Santa Fe Opera. Gardner earned a bachelor's degree in music education from Wichita State University and a master's from the Manhattan School of Music. Gardner spent two summers at the Brevard Music Center and two summers studying at the Aspen School of Music (one summer on a Ford Foundation Grant). She is the artistic director of the Dallas Symphony's Young Strings program and many of her viola students in that program have been accepted to the country's major music universities such as The Juiliiard School, New England Conservatory, Cleveland Institute of Music and Peabody Conservatory.