Announcing the appointment of Katie McGuinness

Wildenthal Families Vice President of Artistic Operations

McGuinness Succeeds Peter Czornyj Who Will Retire in July 2021 After Seven Years with the DSO

Dallas, Texas (May 21, 2021) – Today Ross Perot President & CEO Kim Noltemy and Music Director Fabio Luisi (Louise W. & Edmund J. Kahn Music Directorship) announce the appointment of Katie McGuinness as the new Wildenthal Families Vice President of Artistic Operations. In this role, she will work closely with Luisi, Principal Pops Conductor Jeff Tyzik (Dot & Paul Mason Podium) and the artistic team to craft multi-season classical and pops programming and events. McGuinness will oversee the DSO’s artistic operations team and the education department. Her tenure will begin at the start of the 2021/22 concert season.

“Fabio Luisi and I are thrilled to welcome Ms. McGuinness into the DSO family and to get to work on a new exciting era for our orchestra,” said Ross Perot President & CEO Kim Noltemy. “Katie brings imaginative artistic thinking, and we know that she will be a great addition to our leadership team.”

“Ms. McGuinness brings a wealth of knowledge as a musician as well as an artistic administrator, and I am delighted to welcome her to the DSO,” said Luisi. “I’m eager to begin working with her on programming initiatives and building our artistic partnership.”

McGuinness is currently the Director of Artistic Planning at the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, appointed in 2017. As head of the classical artistic department, she is responsible for planning and programming the Classical subscription series, summer classical concerts, Happy Hour Series and overseeing the educational concert programming. McGuinness works closely with the Music Director, crafting multi-disciplinary artistic projects, selecting guest conductors, artists and composers across all demographics to work with the orchestra, nurturing strong relationships with colleagues in the industry and guiding the artistic profile of the orchestra. In recent years, McGuinness led the orchestra in a successful search for an Associate Conductor and Concertmaster. She has been spearheading the orchestra’s Music Director search.

“I’m honored to join the team at the Dallas Symphony,” said McGuinness. “The DSO has been a leader in innovating during this past year, and I am inspired by the leadership of Kim Noltemy and Fabio Luisi. It is a delight to be a part of such a dynamic and forward-thinking organization.”

Prior to her work in Indianapolis, in December 2013, she was appointed Executive Assistant to the Senior Vice President of Artistic Planning at the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and was soon promoted to Manager of Artistic Administration. McGuinness has seen her career progress rapidly and throughout this time, she has built a strong network of relationships in the music business.

While pursuing her doctoral studies in piano performance at the Royal Irish Academy of Music in Ireland, she spent two summers working for the Aspen Music Festival and School in administrative roles. Knowing that her career was moving in the direction of artist management, she accepted the offer in September 2011 to work for HarrisonParrott Artist Management in London.

Throughout her studies in music performance, McGuinness was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship, an Indiana University Associate Instructorship Scholarship, a Lucien and Maura Teissier Scholarship and a Yamaha Music Foundation Scholarship. While growing up, she took part in numerous music festivals throughout Europe and the US, and studied with some of the most prestigious teachers in the world. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Dublin City University, and a Masters in Music degree and a Performance Diploma from Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, Bloomington. She spent most of her piano studies under the tuition of the highly acclaimed Irish pianist John O’Conor and owes much of her musical intuition to his refined teaching skills.  Having studied and worked in the US, UK and Ireland, she brings a broad knowledge and understanding of the different cultures and practices in the classical music industry. 

ABOUT THE DALLAS SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
The Dallas Symphony Orchestra, under the leadership of Music Director Fabio Luisi, presents world-class orchestral music at the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center, one of the world’s top-rated concert halls. As the largest performing arts organization in the Southwest, the DSO is committed to inspiring the broadest possible audience with distinctive classical programs, inventive pops concerts and innovative multi-media presentations. In fulfilling its commitment to the community, the orchestra reaches more than 243,000 adults and children annually through performances, educational programs and community outreach initiatives.

During the pandemic, the Dallas Symphony was one of a few major U.S. orchestras to present socially distanced concerts with live audiences throughout the 2020/21 Season. Furthermore, the orchestra has offered more than 200 outdoor chamber concerts in neighborhoods throughout the Metroplex since the summer. The DSO continued online music lessons to more than 200 students as part of its Young Strings and Young Musicians programs and increased its online dissemination of concerts through a newly designed website and on social media.

The DSO has a tradition dating back to 1900 and is a cornerstone of the unique, 118-acre Arts District in Downtown Dallas that is home to multiple performing arts venues, museums and parks – the largest district of its kind in the nation. The DSO is supported, in part, by funds from the Office of Arts & Culture, City of Dallas.

MEDIA CONTACTS:

Denise McGovern | Vice President of Communications | Dallas Symphony Orchestra
d.mcgovern@dalsym.com | 214.718.7094

Kristen Turner | Communications Manager | Dallas Symphony Orchestra
k.turner@dalsym.com | 214.871.4063