American Friends of the Israel Philharmonic

American Friends of the Israel Philharmonic

Founded in 1980, the organization is the primary US-based fundraising and financial vehicle for the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra. The board includes co-founder and Music Director for Life Zubin Mehta, violinist Itzhak Perlman, and President James C. Ackerman. Chaim Katzman (founder of G City) and Richard S. Ziman (Rexford Industrial Realty) sit on the board, anchoring a network that blends cultural philanthropy with institutional real estate capital. The foundation sustains the Orchestra through a fund-of-funds investment strategy that underpins operational grants, international tour financing, and music education programming throughout Israel. Its known financial partners include the Koret Foundation and the Jewish Communal Fund, a major source of donor-advised grants. The financial structure is designed to provide steady, long-term disbursements rather than transactional deal-chasing; the portfolio includes a publicly traded securities allocation and the Herman S. Sandler Endowment Fund. The team operates from a single office at 122 East 42nd Street in Manhattan. Total assets under management are not publicly disclosed by the organization and are estimated in the low tens of millions. In August 2023, Jennifer Ritvo Hughes was appointed CEO, marking a leadership transition focused on broadening the Orchestra's philanthropic reach in the United States. The organization regularly co-hosts West Coast galas and events with the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts. The foundation's structural differentiator is its single-beneficiary model: the entire investment portfolio and fundraising apparatus exist exclusively to underwrite the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra. Unlike broader arts endowments, there is no grantmaking discretion — capital flows to one institution, linking the foundation's investment performance directly to the Orchestra's touring and educational capacity.