Caramoor Announces Appointment of President & CEO Edward J. Lewis III

Caramoor is delighted to announce 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 comments:

“I want to thank the Board of Trustees for the honor of serving as the next President and CEO of Caramoor. I am excited about the opportunity to bring together all of my experiences as a music student, professional musician, arts faculty member, and arts administrator, as well as my passions for nature and history. Caramoor has a storied legacy of presenting renowned artists and nurturing generations of emerging chamber music and vocal artists. With the recent success and impact of its Inspire campaign, Caramoor is in a strong financial position to be even more forward-thinking in charting its course for the next 75 years. I am thrilled to collaborate with a team of accomplished arts professionals and passionate advocates to build on Caramoor's celebrated history. Together, we will focus on enhancing its distinctive setting and world-class performances to ensure that Caramoor is a place that reflects a broad and inclusive sense of community and that delights both artists and audiences.”

Caramoor Chairman James A. Attwood, Jr. adds:

“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. When it comes to fundraising and management in the arts, his level of experience and expertise is exceptional. What’s more, his passion for excellence, innovation, inclusivity, and audience development aligns perfectly with ours. I think I speak for all of us at Caramoor when I say we have never been more optimistic as we look towards the future.”

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 a unique stand-alone public university of five arts conservatories on one campus – Lewis is a key member of the executive team that charts the course for future growth, addressing emerging issues, long-range planning, organizational structure, policy-making, and institutional budgeting. The COVID-19 protocols the team developed and implemented, which re-envisioned the UNCSA campus to train young artists safely during the pandemic, drew national notice in the Washington Post. Over the course of his six-year tenure, Lewis has also succeeded in surpassing all annual and campaign fundraising goals.

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, where he provided strategic direction for a comprehensive fundraising program for one of the nation’s leading university presenting programs. As well as holding 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.

Coming from beyond the world of classical music institutions, Lewis is ideally placed to guide Caramoor as it continues to diversify its offerings and broaden its audience through adventurous programming across the musical spectrum, from classical to contemporary, world, folk, and jazz. He takes the helm amidst a true artistic and economic renaissance at Caramoor. Completed early last year, Caramoor’s highly successful Inspire capital campaign raised more than $40 million, quadrupling its endowment and enabling major investments in the historic 80-acre estate.