Elizabeth Segerstrom

Elizabeth Segerstrom is Co-Managing Director of C.J. Segerstrom & Sons and serves on the Board of Directors of Segerstrom Center for the Arts. Born in Olsztyn, Poland, she holds a doctoral degree in psychology and is an accomplished entrepreneur and published author. After moving to Orange County in 2000, she and her late husband Henry Segerstrom partnered with the Philharmonic Society of Orange County on a number of initiatives that resulted in greatly enhanced musical and cultural offerings in Southern California. In 2003, she was involved in the final design of the over 2,000-seat Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall in Costa Mesa, which opened in 2006 and is home to the Pacific Symphony, Pacific Chorale, and Philharmonic Society of Orange County. She chaired the six-week opening celebration of the new concert hall as well as the opening of the more intimate Samueli Theater. Not only did she and her husband help create the Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall, but they also brought incredible artists to its stage. The year it opened, the two were instrumental in bringing a three-week Mariinsky Festival that featured the first Southern California presentation of Wagner’s Ring Cycle. The following year, they launched the new Elizabeth and Henry Segerstrom Select Series with the Philharmonic Society of Orange County, which continues to bring the highest quality of internationally acclaimed performances to the Segerstrom Center for the Arts. In 2007, Elizabeth Segerstrom was honored for her contributions to the region by the Guilds of the Center, a support group for the Orange County Performing Arts Center, and in 2011, she received the Golden Baton Award from the Philharmonic Society for her extraordinary dedication to the arts in Southern California. In addition to supporting Segerstrom Center for the Arts and the Philharmonic Society of Orange County, she is an active supporter of many other organizations, including American Ballet Theatre, Carnegie Hall, LA Opera, Turnaround Arts: California, and American Friends of the Louvre, among others. In 2022, Elizabeth Segerstrom underwrote and co-presented Reunited in Dance, followed by the United Ukrainian Ballet in 2023. Elizabeth Segerstrom joined forces with Maria Manetti Shrem to underwrite the Vienna Philharmonic’s California Residency in 2025, which brought the acclaimed orchestra, under the baton of Yannick Nézet-Séguin, to Southern California audiences for the first time in more than a decade.

In recognition of their outstanding and impactful philanthropic work, including their support of this California Orchestra Residency, Maria Manetti Shrem and Elizabeth Segerstrom will be honored with the 2027 Cal Performances Award of Distinction in the Performing Arts. The highest honor bestowed by Cal Performances, the award is given to an individual or ensemble for exceptional contributions and impact in the performing arts. Past honorees include luminaries such as Cecilia Bartoli, Yo-Yo Ma, Gordon P. Getty, Renée Fleming, William Kentridge, Mark Morris, and Angélique Kidjo. In March of 2025, Shrem and Segerstrom each received the Cal Performances’ California Performing Arts Visionary Award, presented on the occasion of the inaugural 2025 edition of their namesake California Orchestra Residency.