Lisa Muci Eckhoff
Managing Director
From violinist to board member Lisa Muci Eckhoff is a highly respected arts leader. Regardless of the role, Lisa’s innate desire to explore and innovate brings people together to make the arts accessible, engaging, and relevant. Recently selected as the new Managing Director of Marble City Opera – Knoxville’s Chamber Opera Company – Lisa looks forward to working with its Board of Directors, Founding Executive Artistic Director Kathryn Frady, and team members as the company enters its next chapter of creative and organizational growth.
Lisa began building her arts administration leadership profile during a fulfilling career as a full-time orchestral violinist in the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra. Performing in every titled position and as a soloist, Lisa served on numerous players’ committees to ensure smooth working conditions. Later, her service as a Citizen Grant Panelist for the Tennessee Arts Commission started her journey in fundraising. And her determined work as Executive Director of the Oak Ridge Civic Music Association (ORCMA) during the Covid-19 pandemic kept musicians performing, audiences listening, and stakeholders supporting – earning ORCMA record donations and a Tennessee State grant for economic contributions through the arts. Also at ORCMA, Lisa led a nation-wide music director search, designed and implemented a summer strings camp with its founder, Dr. Adolf King, and quadrupled grant funding. Most recently, as Strings Program Lead at the Joy of Music School, Lisa built a community of string families from individual students and significantly increased grant funding while serving in an interim administrative role.
Other notable leadership successes include:
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Service on the Wichita Symphony Orchestra Board of Directors, where her audience development project evolved into a multi-faceted strategic partnership with McConnell Air Force Base that connected the orchestra community with military families, service members, and retirees;
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Service on the ARISE Choral Ensemble Board of Directors, where she connected the ensemble with the local school district and enabled in-school performances;
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Tenure as Affiliate Director of Kansas Wolf Trap Institute for Early Learning through the Arts, and Program Director of Arts Partners a Young Audiences affiliate, during which she was a presenter at Young Audiences national conferences and State education conferences;
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Co-ownership of Herbert Eckhoff Artist Management to assist emerging vocalists enter the field of opera.
Lisa continues to perform in the Bryan Symphony Orchestra, the Oak Ridge Symphony Orchestra, and the national Sphinx Symphony Orchestra, and participates in their various education roles of mentor, teacher, coach, and adjudicator. In Knoxville, she was recently Concertmaster of Knoxville Opera’s “Greatest Hits” production.
Lisa earned degrees from Northwestern University and Wichita State University, magna cum laude. Professional learning opportunities include the Tennessee Arts Commission’s Artful Teaching & Learning Seminar sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education; Canada’s Tafelmusik Baroque Summer Institute; and, with a Sphinx MPower Artist Grant, arts integration studies in Project Zero Classroom at Harvard Graduate School of Education. In addition to family, Lisa credits arts leaders Katie Lynn and Jane Polin for administrative mentorship and numerous professors, including Nancy Luttrell, Blair Milton, and Carl Topilow, for musical support and guidance.