“To the list of key music business executives announcing their retirements in the Covid-19 year of 2020, add the name Margaret M. Lioi, Chamber Music America’s CEO,” writes Susan Elliott in Monday’s (11/2) Musical America (subscription required). “CMA announced on Friday afternoon that she would be stepping down after 20 years as of July 2021. Lioi, CMA’s longest-serving chief exec, is credited with bringing jazz under the organization’s purview and with increasing CMA annual grants from $500,000 to what will amount to more than $1.2m in 2021. She also is said to have made major inroads in diversity, in grant-making, staffing, and board membership. Lioi holds a Masters in Piano Performance from New England Conservatory and an MBA from Binghamton University/SUNY. Prior to CMA, she worked at Spoleto Festival U.S.A., The Eleanor Naylor Dana Charitable Trust, and The Public Theater. Richard Kessler, chairman of CMA’s board and executive dean for the College of Performing Arts and at The New School, praised ‘her steady hand, fundraising ability, and understanding of artists’ needs,’ and noted that Loi had ‘managed to keep CMA vital and relevant for these many years.’ A search for her successor will begin presently.”
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