Kathryn Neustadter – Founder of Redwood Arts Council

Kathryn Neustadter died at her Occidental home on Sunday, Feb.
3. She was 65. Kathryn “Kit” Neustadter helped bring world-class
live chamber music to Sonoma County for 28 years as the founder and
president of the Redwood Arts Council.
She moved to Occidental in 1971 with husband Steve Neustadter,
who died in 2002, and was a teacher and director for the Analy
preschool in Sebastopol.
Through the Redwood Arts Council, local music patrons have
enjoyed such great performers as Kronos, Brentano and Daedalus
Quartet, the Oberlin Piano Trio and the Anonymous 4.
The next concert is scheduled for this Saturday, Feb. 9, by the
Russian Konevets vocal quartet at the Occidental Community
Church.
In addition to the Redwood Arts Council, Neustadter was also
involved in efforts to create the Occidental Center for the Arts,
which opened in 2005.
An arts major at Antioch College in Ohio, she started teaching
preschool in San Francisco in the Tenderloin district. Neustadter
retired from teaching in 2002, the same year her husband died and
she was diagnosed with cancer.
She died with her daughters and friends in attendance. A
Memorial Service will be held at 2 p.m. Feb. 16 at the Glaser
Center in Santa Rosa.
Contributions may be made to the Redwood Arts Council, P.O. Box
449, Occidental, CA. 95465; or to Sutter VNA and Hospice, 1110 N.
Dutton Ave., Santa Rosa 95401.