ABT elects board chairman

[Dale]

From the company:

ANDREW F. BARTH ELECTED CHAIRMAN OF BOARD OF GOVERNING TRUSTEES FOR

AMERICAN BALLET THEATRE

BRIAN J. HEIDTKE ELECTED TO BOARD PRESIDENT

The Board of Governing Trustees of American Ballet Theatre has elected

Andrew F. Barth Chairman and Brian J. Heidtke President. The elections, which

become effective immediately, were announced today by Kara Medoff Barnett, ABT

Executive Director. Barth succeeds Donald Kramer who has held the position as

Chairman since 2011. Heidtke succeeds Sharon Patrick who has served as President

since 2009.

Andrew Barth is chairman of Capital Guardian Trust Company in

Los Angeles and a director of Capital Group International, Inc., where he maintains

portfolio management responsibilities in credit fixed-income accounts. He

completed his MBA at Columbia University Graduate School of Business and

graduated summa cum laude from Columbia University (Phi Beta Kappa). In

addition to serving on the Board of Governing Trustees for American Ballet Theatre,

Barth serves on the boards of Beat the Streets in Los Angeles, the Center for the

Study of the Presidency and Congress, the California Science Center Foundation, the

United States Olympic and Para-Olympic Foundation, Columbia University, the

Huntington Museum, Library and Gardens, the American Friends of the Louvre and

the Board of Overseers for the Columbia Business School. Barth joined American

Ballet Theatre’s Board of Governing Trustees in 2001 and has served as the Board’s

Vice Chairman since 2009.

“It is a great honor to accept the Chairman’s role from Don Kramer,” said

Barth. “I hope to live up to Don’s legacy and that of our other distinguished chairs.

The artistic excellence and outstanding creativity embodied within ABT

gives us much to look forward to in the future. “

Brian J. Heidtke is the retired Vice President of Finance and Corporate

Treasurer for Colgate­Palmolive Company, where he was responsible for financing

policy and all domestic and international treasury matters. He was a director and

former chairman of the National Association of Corporate Treasurers and presently

serves on the board of the Williams Capital Management Trust. Heidtke is active on

the boards and executive committees of the Wildlife Conservation Society and the

Archaeological Institute of America. He serves as a trustee for a number of inner­city

education and literacy organizations in New York and New Jersey. Heidtke is a

native of St. Paul and graduated from the University of Minnesota, where he also

studied at the Graduate School of Business Administration. He is also the President

of The Heidtke Foundation in Wyckoff, New Jersey. A member of American Ballet

Theatre’s Board of Governing Trustees since 2000, Heidtke previously served as

Board Vice President and Treasurer. He will continue his role as Co-Chair of the

Board’s Education Committee.

"As an ABT trustee, I've been especially gratified by the transformation of the

Company's administrative management team to match the artistic excellence long

evident under Kevin McKenzie, and by the establishment of ABT's Jacqueline

Kennedy Onassis School,” said Heidtke. “In partnership with Andy Barth and Kara

Barnett, I look forward to sustaining the leadership of America's National Ballet

Company long provided by Sharon Patrick.”

“The future of American Ballet Theatre is in the best of hands with the

appointments of Andrew Barth and Brian Heidtke, as Chairman and President,

respectively,” said Kara Medoff Barnett. “Both leaders have shown a true

commitment to the ongoing success of this institution. I look forward to

collaborating with them closely.”

Former Chairman Donald Kramer has been named Chairman Emeritus of

American Ballet Theatre’s Board of Governing Trustees and will continue to serve as

Chair of the Board’s audit and finance committees. Sharon Patrick becomes a Vice

Chair of the Board and will continue in her role as Chair of the Strategic Planning

Committee.