Cellist/conductor JEROME KESSLER is a familiar figure to audiences throughout the Southwest. He has been Music Director and Conductor of the Topanga Symphony since its inception in 1982 and of the Hollywood Chamber Orchestra since 1975. He is also Music Director of the Los Angeles-based cello octet, I Cellisti. A former Music Director of the Congress of Strings, he has appeared as a guest conductor of orchestras all over the United States.

An exponent of American Music, he has commissioned and premiered numerous works for orchestra, solo and multiple celli, by such composers as Lee Holdridge, Fred Katz, Bill Marx, Nelson Riddle, JAC Redford and Eugene Zador. He is himself a prolific composer: his own compositions include music for orchestra, solo and multiple cello, brass ensemble and voice.

In addition to his work as a conductor, he remains active as a cellist. The founder and Principal Cellist of the Los Angeles Cello Quartet, he appears frequently in solo, chamber and symphonic events and plays in the orchestras of the recording, television and motion picture studios. He has performed under Pierre Boulez, and toured and recorded with Frank Zappa. In his spare time, he travels, plays golf ("good swing, high score") and chamber music.