Emily Heckel

Originally from Minnesota, Emily Heckel earned her BA from Smith College in 2006, where she
majored in Music and Italian Studies. During her junior year of college, she lived in Florence,
Italy to study Music and Italian. She was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship to teach English in
Germany during the 2006-07 school year. In December 2012, she received her MA in Arts
Management and a Certificate in Fundraising and Development in the Arts at George Mason
University. Her professional career began as an intern with the National Symphony Orchestra
(NSO) Education Programs at the Kennedy Center for the Fall 2007 semester. She has held
several positions at two arts organizations in Washington, DC, including Development Associate
at the Studio Theatre, Registration Assistant for school programs at the Kennedy Center,
Program Coordinator of the NSO’s Education Program, and most recently, Manager of Music
Education, Programming and Productions at the Kennedy Center.

In 2017, Emily was promoted to Manager, NSO Education and Music Education within the
Education Division of the Kennedy Center. In that role, she led two orchestral training programs
that served over 100 students each year. Through a departmental restructuring in Fall 2023,
Emily’s position changed to Manager of Music Education, Programming and Productions, to
focus her work more intentionally on engagement with schools and families. In this role, she
executed seasons of student, children, and family programming at the Kennedy Center that
reached 30,000 annually, and fostered partnerships with youth orchestras and schools for
increased collaboration. Emily has been active with the League of American Orchestras as a
member of the Education and Community Engagement Leadership Committee since December
2021.

Emily keeps music in her personal life as a cantor at her church, and enjoys spending time with
her family from watching soccer games and piano recitals to exploring the world both close and
far together.