Our Team

Ara Gregorian founder & artistic director

Violinist/violist ARA GREGORIAN made his debut as soloist with the Boston Pops Orchestra in Symphony Hall and has appeared at Carnegie Hall, Avery Fisher Hall and the Kennedy Center, and in cities throughout the world including Boston, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, Vancouver, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Beijing, Ulaanbaatar, Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and Helsinki.

Gregorian is the founder and artistic director of Four Seasons and has appeared at the SpringLight (Finland), Storioni (Holland), Casals (Puerto Rico), Intimacy of Creativity (Hong Kong), Voice of Music (Israel), Vail, Taos and Sante Fe festivals. He has performed extensively as a member of the Cooperstown and Daedalus quartets and the chamber music ensemble Concertante, and is the Four Seasons Chamber Music Festival Distinguished Professor in Music at East Carolina University where he has been on the violin/viola faculty since 1998. In the Fall of 2024, Gregoian will join the faculty at New England Conservatory where he will serve as Chair of String and Piano Chamber Music.

Henry Michaels managing director

HENRY MICHAELS has been Managing Director of Four Seasons since 2022. His duties include managing artist, patron, and corporate relations; marketing; community engagement; and Next Generation initiatives; as well as assisting with fundraising and working closely with Four Seasons Artistic Director Ara Gregorian to bring unforgettable performances to North Carolina and beyond.

Henry is passionate about connecting audiences with the history and culture of music, inviting them to care about musical works, both new and old, in ways they may not have considered. He has presented public lectures for the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Music Academy of the West, taught music history courses at both UC Santa Barbara and Westmont College, and written program notes for the Takács Quartet, Richard O’Neill, the Music Academy of the West, and the London Symphony Orchestra.

Prior to joining Four Seasons, Henry worked as Director of Audience Experience and Engagement at the Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara. He holds a Master of Arts degree in Musicology from UC Santa Barbara and a Master of Music degree in Trombone Performance from Towson University, as well as undergraduate degrees in both History and Music Performance from Lenoir-Rhyne University.

Henry was born and raised in Morganton, North Carolina, a small town nestled in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. He is an avid reader, a lover of fantasy football, and a proud Jeopardy! third place “winner.” He and his wife, Bridget, are parents to Jed and Sully.

Tanner Cassidy operations manager

TANNER CASSIDY is Operations Manager for Four Seasons. In this role, he oversees day-to-day and concert operations, ensuring the highest level of excellence is maintained across all events and initiatives. He has experience in arts administration, working previously for nonprofits including the Music Academy of the West. Besides administrative work, Tanner has written program notes for the Music Academy of the West and the Cleveland Orchestra, and has also presented at national conferences on music theory. He currently sits on the board of Opera Santa Barbara, where he has served as the chair of the Artistic and DEI Committees.

Tanner holds an MA in Music Theory from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and a BA in Music with an emphasis in composition from North Central College. He is also a jazz saxophonist and orchestra conductor.

Tanner hails from Aurora, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. He’s a film buff, so if you don’t see him working he’s probably off somewhere watching a movie.