Keith Cerny, who runs the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra as its president and CEO, is headed to the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra.
The Canadian orchestra has named him president and CEO of the orchestra and of its affiliated music school, effective Jan. 11, 2027, CultureMap Fort Worth reported Monday, citing a Vancouver Symphony press release. The Vancouver Sun first reported the hire on Nov. 6.
When the Fort Worth orchestra announced Cerny's departure on Oct. 23, it said only that he would take "another chief executive role at an arts organization outside Texas."
In Vancouver he succeeds Angela Elster, who is retiring. CultureMap reported that he was picked from more than 110 candidates in a national and international search. Vancouver board chair David Garofalo said in the release that Cerny brings "a rare and compelling combination" of an economist's analytical approach, a pianist's artistic background and three decades of experience building cultural institutions.
His Fort Worth tenure
Cerny joined the Fort Worth Symphony in January 2019, about eight months after leaving the Dallas Opera, which he led from 2010 to 2017, for Calgary Opera.
In Fort Worth, he and board chair Mercedes T. Bass recruited Robert Spano as music director to follow Miguel Harth-Bedoya, who had held the post for years, and brought in British conductor Dame Jane Glover in the principal guest conductor role.
The orchestra has credited him with keeping finances steady through the pandemic. It says it finished three pandemic years $330,000 in the black while continuing live concerts and paying musicians and staff in full, benefits included. Since the 2024-25 season, a board recruitment drive he led added 50 members, bringing the board to 83, according to the orchestra's October announcement.
