Caramoor Names New President & CEO

Caramoor Names New President & CEO: Caramoor recently announced the appointment of Edward J. Lewis III as President & CEO. Lewis, who will succeed Interim CEO Nina Curley on May 1, has almost two decades of experience in performing arts leadership. An accomplished violist who has been a member of the Dallas Opera and Dallas Chamber Orchestras, he comes to Caramoor from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, where he currently serves as Vice Chancellor for Advancement.

Lewis expressed his enthusiasm for the highly coveted position saying, “I am thrilled to collaborate with a team of accomplished arts professionals and passionate advocates to build on Caramoor’s celebrated history.” Caramoor Chairman James A. Attwood, Jr. added: “We are extremely fortunate to have found someone of Ed’s caliber to lead us on the next leg of our journey. He is an accomplished musician and a seasoned leader.”

Lewis comes to Caramoor following a unique run as Vice Chancellor for Advancement at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts (UNCSA) – the nation’s first state-supported arts school and stand-alone public university of five arts conservatories on one campus. As a key member of Caramoor’s executive team Lewis will help chart the course for future growth, addressing emerging issues, long-range planning, organizational structure, policy-making and institutional budgeting.

Lewis comes to Caramoor a true economic renaissance for the cultural arts organization. Caramoor’s highly successful 2020 Inspire capital campaign raised more than $40 million, quadrupling its endowment and enabling major investments in the historic 80-acre estate.

In addition to being a master fundraiser, UNCSA has received national attention from the Washington Post for the COVID-19 protocols the team put in place that re-envisioned the UNCSA campus to train young artists safely during the pandemic. Lewis’s previous positions include serving as Senior Director of Development at the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center at the University of Maryland, College Park.  He holds a Bachelor of Music from Northwestern University and a Master of Music from the University of Michigan. He also attended the University of Maryland School of Music, where he studied chamber music with the Guarneri String Quartet. As a professional violist, he is a founding member of Baltimore’s Soulful Symphony and a former member of the Dallas Opera Orchestra, Dallas Chamber Orchestra, Santa Fe Pro Musica, Sphinx Symphony and Toledo Symphony.

About Caramoor

Caramoor is a cultural arts destination located on a unique 80-acre estate with Italianate architecture and gardens in Northern Westchester County, NY. Its beautiful grounds include the historic Rosen House, a stunning mansion listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Besides enriching the lives of its audiences through innovative and diverse musical performances of the highest quality, Caramoor mentors young professional musicians and provides music-centered educational programs for young children. For information about getting to Caramoor, click here.