Kathleen Rutledge

Kathleen Pillsbury Rutledge, has been a member of the Bartlesville Symphony Board since 1995. After years of relocations (as both a military daughter and later as the wife of an active duty career officer) Kathleen and her husband, Richard, made their permanent home in Bartlesville. Kathleen is the President/CEO of 21^st Sensory, a consumer goods testing and sensory research company that she established. She has played the much maligned viola in the symphony and as a teenager played in the Honolulu All School Select Orchestra.

Kathleen and Richard are both a visible and vocal advocate for the symphony. Kathleen volunteered, “Because music nurtures and sustains one’s soul. It grounds us, excites us, binds us and refreshes us. For a moment, one is free of the mundane.  It is a constant challenge for the board to fan the embers and keep the flame alive. But the BSO experience evokes awe and a sense of wonder as one tries to understand the forces at play to create music. ”

She wants everyone to know that when it comes to the symphony they need to “Come, be comfortable, and be prepared to be happily surprised.”  She asks our supporters to try to share the experience with others, especially young people who will inherit the music.