Eisemann Center Managing Director Bruce MacPherson Announces Retirement

Charles W. Eisemann Center for Performing Arts and Corporate Presentations Managing Director Bruce MacPherson has announced he will retire Sept. 30, 2022. His retirement wraps a 45-year role in the field of performing arts, the last 22 of which will have been performed at the City of Richardson's Eisemann Center.

"In theater terms, I would say I've had a very good run and that I'm thankful for all the shows and people I've had the opportunity to work with," said MacPherson. "This September will mark the 20th Anniversary of the Eisemann Center's opening. I see this milestone as the appropriate time for me to step aside. I may physically be gone, but my heart, my soul and my love for the Eisemann Center will remain. I shall always be thankful for my time in Richardson and am truly grateful for having had the opportunity to play such a lead role with the Eisemann Center."

MacPherson has served as managing director of Richardson's Eisemann Center since January 2000. He helped oversee design and construction of the 117,000-square-foot facility that features three performance venues, an art gallery, and concessions area. He has also managed a presenting series (Eisemann Center Presents) of nationally recognized touring artists and attractions to the North Texas region. The facility is also centrally located and involved in Richardson's annual Wildflower! Arts & Music Festival.

"This is the end of an era," said Richardson City Manager Dan Johnson. "Bruce was an integral part of the Eisemann Center's design and construction, and he has played a leading role through the first 20 years of its operation. We are going to miss him very much and wish him all the best."

MacPherson graduated from State University of New York at Fredonia in 1977, with a B.A. in theater. That year, he took a position as assistant to the producer for Melody Fair Theatre, a commercial theater, in North Tonawanda, N.Y. He worked in that position until 1979, when he transitioned to be marketing and development director for the Samuel L. Clemens Performing Arts Center in Elmira, N.Y., where he stayed until 1985. From 1985-1989, MacPherson held the position of Assistant Director of the Zeiterion Theatre in New Bedford, Mass. In 1989, he left to become one of the first staff hired to help open the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center in Dallas, serving as the Manager of Administration. From 1993-2000 he served as the Meyerson's General Manager and assisted the Dallas Symphony Association with the finish-out of a rehearsal room, music library, meeting and banquet space, gift shop, and broadcast center.

MacPherson is a graduate of Leadership Richardson Class XVI, and has been a member of the Richardson East Rotary Club since 2010. During his time with Rotary, he has served as club president from 2015-2016 and served as chair of the Signature Project Committee from 2017-2019 that, in conjunction with the City of Richardson Parks and Recreation Department, designed and built the Ann Eisemann Inclusive Playground at Cottonwood Park.

He has been recognized by Inside Collin County Business as one the "21 for 21st Century" Business Leaders in May 2001 and received the Heart for the Arts Ambassador of the Year award in 2011 from the Richardson Arts Alliance. He was also named Alumnus of the Year in 2014 by Leadership Richardson Alumni Association, and received Service Above Self Award from Richardson East Rotary Club at Richardson Chamber of Commerce's EDGE Awards in 2019. In 2019, MacPherson was also the recipient of the Community Builder Award from the Richardson Masonic Lodge.

MacPherson is an active member of the Association of Performing Arts Presenters, International Association of Venue Managers, Southwest Performing Arts Presenters, and League of Historic American Theatres.

The City of Richardson will begin recruitment efforts in partnership with Arts Consulting Group in February 2022 to select a new managing director for the Eisemann Center. Selection of a successor should take place in late Summer 2022 to allow for a smooth transition with MacPherson's retirement at the end of September.

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