Eleanor Eisenmenger

ELEANOR EISENMENGER Obituary

ELEANOR EISENMENGER1929 - 2026

Eleanor Eisenmenger died at her home in Santa Fe on Monday, February 23, 2026.Throughout her life, Eleanor was a constant champion of contemporary composers and their music. Her curiosity for new work was boundless. She was also trusted adviser to countless musicians and ensembles, sharing programming ideas with them and generously supporting multiple co-commissions of new pieces from contemporary composers, in addition to supporting Santa Fe's many music organizations. Her steadfastness, unwavering advocacy, generosity, and friendship were great gifts to all who knew her and worked with her.Eleanor (née Eleanor Custis Lewis) was born in New York City. She grew up on the Jersey shore and began serious music concert-going at age 11. She graduated from Barnard College majoring in music. She studied conducting at the Mozarteum Music Conservatory in Salzburg, Austria. Eleanor worked some years in the travel industry mainly for British Airways, Alitalia and United Touring Co. in Nairobi. She then returned to the music world working for conductors at Covent Garden in London, and then for Boris Goldovsky in New York. She co-founded and was executive director of the Atlantic Sinfonietta chamber orchestra in New York. This group recorded some of Martha Graham's Dance Company's repertoire, receiving a Grammy nomination for a CD of her work. Eleanor married the New York physician and liver specialist, William J. Eisenmenger in 1976, living with him in Connecticut and Massachusetts until his death in 1994. She then moved to Santa Fe founding and producing the 20th Century Unlimited concerts from 1997 to 2003. Along with music, Eleanor loved animals and the environment. In later life she devoted many hours to the Audobon Society and the Sierra Club for whom she regularly knocked on doors for votes prior to elections.She is survived by relatives in Germany and Austria and by her step-children, Mary, Gretchen and Billy, and by Jim Cooper and his family in Colorado.Eleanor will be much missed by her numerous friends in Santa Fe and across the States.A gathering in her honor is planned for early spring.In lieu of flowers, please send gifts to a Santa Fe music organization of your choice, or to The Sierra Club, the Audubon Society or Teca Tu Pet store in Santa Fe.