New Leadership in Fort Worth
The Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra (FWSO) announced the appointment of Keith Cerny as President and CEO. Dr. Cerny will begin his tenure on January 11, 2019.
He comes to the FWSO with an impressive educational background, having studied conducting at London’s Guildhall School of Music and holding graduate degrees from Harvard Business School and the U.K.’s Open University.
Cerny also has meaningful experience as an arts leader. Most recently he has led the Calgary Opera, but DFW Metroplex audiences know him as the innovative General Director and CEO of the Dallas Opera from 2010–2017. He regularly brought new operas to Dallas and established the ground-breaking Linda and Mitch Hart Institute for Women Conductors.
FWSO Players Committee chairman Kyle Sherman said, “We are thrilled to have Dr. Cerny joining the FWSO. The Players Committee recently had the opportunity to meet and visit with him. His credentials, track record, and plans for future artistic collaboration are both impressive and exciting. We look forward to beginning our work together in January.”
The FWSO’s CEO post has been vacant for over a year. Amy Adkins, hired in 2011, left the post in 2017. Before Adkins, Ann Koonsman had held the top job, and is widely credited with creating an atmosphere of stability and growth for the orchestra.
Posthumous Chorister Gift in Washington
The Washington National Opera (WNO) announced that it had received a bequest from Clifford Thomson of $1.1 million. Thomson had been a member of the WNO Chorus for more than 30 years, performing in 75 WNO productions.
Tim O’Leary, WNO’s new general director, said, “We are deeply moved to receive this extraordinary and unexpected gift. This contribution is all the more meaningful coming from a member of WNO’s artistic family.”
WNO also announced the appointment of Evan Rogister as Principal Conductor. The company is currently without a music director, and Rogister will assume many of the same responsibilities. His professional conducting debut was at Houston Grand Opera in 2008, and from 2009–2011 he served as Kapellmeister at Deutsche Oper Berlin under the direction of music director Donald Runnicles.
