Kate Kennedy, Artistic Director
Artistic director and founder Kate Kennedy, is well known to locals for her years of bringing “Shakespeare Under the Stars” performances to Buena Vista and Gundlach Bundschu Wineries.
The middle child of nine, Kennedy grew up in a rural setting outside Minneapolis. Pursuing her love of theater, she toured the northeast and Canada for two years with a commedia dell’arte company. After moving to California Kate spent two years as a lead actress for the San Francisco Shakespeare Company before settling in Sonoma where she founded the Avalon Players who are in their 36th season.
Kennedy is also a founding member of the Performing Arts Camp for children at the historic Sebastiani Theatre, where she’s shared her love of Shakespeare and improvisation with over 3,000 children.
In 1999 the City of Sonoma’s Cultural and Fine Arts Commission selected Kate “Sonoma Treasure Artist of the Year” given to an artist whose body of work and service to the community are substantial, exceptional and inspiring.