Eben Mann, WRFA Director

Violin • Viola • Oboe • English Horn
Clarinet • Highland Bagpipe
Orchestra League Coach (TEAM Violin)
Youth Choral League (Theory Coach)

Eben Mann is the founder and director of the Wild Roots Fine Arts Academy, President of the Tree of Life Cultural Foundation, and President of The Symphony of Rutherford County, all located in Forest City, North Carolina. For more than three decades, he has been dedicated to music education, orchestral performance, and creating opportunities for people of all ages to experience the transformative power of the arts.

Originally from Lake Wales, Florida, Eben began studying violin in third grade before expanding his musical interests to include clarinet, oboe, English horn, viola, and Highland bagpipe. During high school, he performed with the Imperial Symphony Orchestra in Lakeland, Florida, and was named a winner of the orchestra's Young Artists Competition in 1992 on oboe.

He earned a Fine Arts Diploma in Oboe Performance from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, studying oboe and English horn with John Ellis while continuing his violin studies with Elaine Richey and Denise Baker.

Throughout his performing career, Eben has appeared with numerous orchestras and opera companies throughout the Southeast and beyond. He has toured nationally and internationally with Broadway productions including Brigadoon, Phantom (Yeston), Big River, and The Music Man. His orchestral experience includes performances with the Asheville Symphony, Asheville Lyric Opera Orchestra, Charleston Symphony, South Carolina Philharmonic, Gardner-Webb University Orchestra, and many other regional ensembles. He currently serves as Concertmaster of The Symphony of Rutherford County.

As an educator, Eben has taught students for more than twenty years in private studios, public schools, colleges, and community music programs. He served as Orchestra Director at Thomas Jefferson Classical Academy for twelve years, taught oboe as an adjunct instructor at Gardner-Webb University, and has also been a faculty member of the Music Academy of Western North Carolina. His compositions and arrangements have been published by Shawnee Press.

In 2012, Eben founded Wild Roots Fine Arts Academy with the vision of providing high-quality music and arts education while fostering creativity, confidence, and community. That vision has continued to grow through the Tree of Life Cultural Foundation, whose mission is to create opportunities through music, the arts, education, and community programs that enrich the lives of people throughout Rutherford County.

Eben believes that music education is about far more than learning an instrument. It is about helping people discover their gifts, build meaningful relationships, and use those gifts to strengthen the communities in which they live.