Looking ahead to life AC (After Coronavirus), the Dallas Symphony Association’s leadership for fall 2021 has been announced. Music-loving Cece Smith will be taking over the reins of leadership from current DSA Chair Sanjiv Yajnik, who has been at the helm of the organization since 2017.
According to Dallas Symphony Orchestra Ross Perot President/CEO Kim Noltemy, “This new leadership confirmation is an important step in securing the future of the Dallas Symphony, particularly in light of the challenges that the industry now faces due to COVID-19. Sanjiv’s remarkable leadership has helped us make incredible progress. I am confident that with Cece’s leadership, we will build upon this momentum and embark on the next successful chapter of the Dallas Symphony.”
During Sanjiv’s tenure, former music director Jaap van Zweden was succeeded by Fabio Luisi, Kim replaced Jonathan Martin, “a new strategic plan to revitalize the orchestra’s involvement in the community” was put into place and the DSO “assumed management of the iconic Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center.”
As for Cece, the University of Michigan magna cum laude graduate has held various roles within the DSO world. Most recently she has served as president of the Dallas Symphony Foundation and secretary of the DSA. She and her husband Ford Lacy “also recently named the Principal Trombone Chair, which was the orchestra’s last unnamed principal chair.”
Cece also brings a collection of leadership roles in the business community to her new position. In addition to serving as a director and board chair of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, having co-founded the President’s Research Council at UT Southwestern Medical Center and serving as a director of numerous retailing companies, she was executive VP of Finance and Administration of Pearle Health Services and is the co-founder and managing general partner of Phillips-Smith, Machens Venture Partners of Dallas.
* Photo provided by the Dallas Symphony Association