Directions|Contact|Box Office: 214.443.1000|Follow Us! 
Home > About TDO > Company Staff > General Director & CEO

“Keith has an outstanding track record of success in a number of areas. His background demonstrates that he fully understands, appreciates, and embraces both the business and artistic demands of a top-notch American opera company.”

—Dr. Kern Wildenthal, Dallas Opera Board President

General Director & CEO

Keith Cerny

47-year-old Keith Cerny (SUR-nee) officially took charge of the largest opera company in North Texas on May 24, 2010.

Mr. Cerny is the seventh general director in the illustrious history of the Dallas Opera, succeeding Interim General Director John T. Cody, Jr.

Keith Cerny is the former CEO of Sheet Music Plus where he managed the day-to-day operations of an award-winning, 25 million dollar revenue company with sales to over 170 countries worldwide.

Previously, he served as an Executive Director at Russell Reynolds Associates, recruiting CEOs and senior executives for universities, conservatories, museums and foundations.

From 2004 through 2007, Mr. Cerny served as Executive Director (COO) and CFO of the San Francisco Opera; managing all marketing, fund-raising, box-office, endowment, communications, finance and staff functions for one of the nation's leading opera companies (a $58 million annual budget, $120 million endowment). As one of SFO's two principal officers reporting to the San Francisco Opera Association, Mr. Cerny managed the organization to three consecutive years of balanced budgets. He launched new marketing and fund-raising initiatives resulting in a significant increase in subscription revenue and, at the same time, worked closely with SFO's largest foundation donors. He is also a member of the Strategy Committee of Opera America (the national service organization for opera).

Keith Cerny earned B.A. degrees from the University of California at Berkeley in Music and Physics with highest honors, an M.B.A. with distinction from Harvard Business School, and a Ph.D. in Economic Development Studies/Econometrics from The Open University in the U.K. He also completed the Executive Program for Nonprofit Leaders-Arts offered by National Arts Strategies and the Center for Social Innovation at the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Mr. Cerny's business experience includes six years with McKinsey & Company (rising to the position of Senior Engagement Manager) focused around telecommunications, pharmaceuticals and consumer goods in the United States, Europe and Latin America, and seven years with the San Francisco office of Accenture (promoted from Senior Manager to Partner after two and a half years with the company), where he specialized in strategy and business architecture consulting for Communications and High Technology companies.

Keith Cerny has been recognized and honored for his community service and considerable business acumen with the Pacific Telesis Award (1993) for an article in California Management Review that "made the most important contribution to improving the practice of management," and as Volunteer of the Year by the Harvard Business School Community Partners (2000) for leading the development of the Silicon Valley Strategy for San Francisco Opera.

On the artistic side, the Dallas Opera's new general director studied opera accompanying on the English National Opera Repetiteur's Training Course (1985-1986) and pursued part-time post-graduate studies in conducting, accompanying and voice at London's Guildhall School of Music and Drama (1984-1987). At the University of California at Berkeley, where he was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa, Mr. Cerny was Chairman of the Dean's Consulting Group in Letters and Science, four-time winner of the Alumni Association Award and recipient of the Eisner Prize in music (1982) for "creative achievement of the highest order."

Additional leadership, academic and musical awards included the President's Fellowship to assist "unusually talented undergraduates in pursuing original or creative work," a Fulbright Scholarship to study physics in the United Kingdom, and the Alfred Hertz Memorial Fellowship - a one-year scholarship award from UC-Berkeley to study piano in London.

Mr. Cerny is a regular panel participant and speaker at Opera America conferences and special events, including the National Performing Arts Convention.

His past pro bono consulting activities include work for English National Opera, San Francisco Opera, Opera America, Washington National Opera, Atlanta Opera, Spoleto Festival USA, Los Angeles Opera, and - most recently - Houston Grand Opera where he led a multifaceted pro bono initiative on key marketing areas. His pro bono work with San Francisco Opera, prior to his appointment as the company's Executive Director (COO) and CFO, was written up as a case study by Harvard Business School, and has been taught at a number of leading business schools.

Keith Cerny and his wife Jennifer have four children, all of whom have been encouraged to study musical instruments (two on violin, three on piano, one on cello, one on clarinet, one on trombone!). In his rare free time, the general director enjoys running, hiking, and traveling with his family.