Carol Chickering Burden

President and CEO

Carol Burden, the new President and CEO of Wharton Arts, brings two decades of visionary leadership at the intersection of the arts, education, and youth development, along with a deep and personal understanding of what music can do in people’s lives.

Carol joins Wharton Arts following three years as Director of Philanthropy at New York Junior Tennis & Learning where she achieved a significant expansion in foundation support and a major increase in giving for fundraising galas in both 2025 and 2026.   She had previously served as Executive Director of Trenton Music Makers and was named President and CEO of Capital Harmony Works after spearheading the merger of Trenton Music Makers with Trenton Children’s Chorus.  As President and CEO of the newly-formed Capital Harmony Works, she led a period of transformative growth by scaling its annual budget from $215,000 to $1.2 million, growing staff from eleven to thirty, expanding its equity and professional development practices, and earning recognition as a national model for El Sistema-inspired creative youth development. Earlier in her nonprofit career, Carol served as Manager of Education Programs at the Princeton Symphony Orchestra and as Assistant to the Dean for Special Projects, including the divisional community music school, at Westminster Choir College.

Carol served as Board President of the Princeton Girlchoir (now Westrick Music Academy), co-authoring two consecutive strategic plans and leading the search that recruited the organization’s second Executive Director. She also served on the Coordinating Committee of the El Sistema New Jersey Alliance, as Lead Administrator and Organizational Partner for Carnegie Hall PlayUSA, on the Community Advisory Council of Grounds for Sculpture, and a founder of the Pilgrim Resource Center, a concrete-services referral agency for guests of the meal program at St. Michael’s Church in Manhattan.

Before pursuing a career in social-sector leadership, Carol enjoyed a distinguished performance career as a soprano.  She appeared with the Lyric Opera of Chicago, New York City Opera, Long Beach Opera, the Houston Symphony Orchestra, and orchestras and choral organizations across the United States and Europe.

Carol Burden holds a Bachelor of Arts from Amherst College, a Master of Music from The Juilliard School, and a Certificate in Nonprofit Management from Duke University.  She is an alumna of the National Music Camp at Interlochen and the Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, public schools.