Kern Wildenthal General Director and CEO

The Kern Wildenthal General Director and CEO The Dallas Opera

Mar 03, 2026

For nearly 70 years, The Dallas Opera (TDO) has been a defining cultural institution in Dallas and among leading American opera companies. Founded in 1957 with an inaugural season featuring Maria Callas, the company established a standard of artistic excellence that continues to guide its work. TDO has presented more than 300 productions and welcomed many of the world’s most distinguished artists in significant American and company debuts.

The organization has earned a reputation for artistic rigor, production quality, and disciplined governance. The company’s artistic identity is anchored in the great works of the operatic repertoire, presented at the highest professional standard. These works remain central to audience engagement, donor confidence, and institutional stability. In line with its tradition of artistic leadership, TDO has also regularly commissioned new works and produced rarely performed repertoire, strengthening its international reputation through disciplined and purposeful programming.

In 2025–2026, The Dallas Opera completed the most successful fundraising initiative in its history, raising more than $50 million for endowment and operations. The Dallas Opera enters this leadership transition from a position of strength—artistically distinguished, financially fortified, and poised for disciplined growth in one of the nation’s most dynamic cultural markets.

The Kern Wildenthal General Director and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) reports directly to the Board of Directors and serves as the principal executive and administrative leader of The Dallas Opera. In close partnership with artistic leadership, the CEO will define institutional strategy, allocate resources with discipline, and ensure sustained artistic and financial performance. This appointment carries a clear mandate: to steward strength and extend it.

The CEO will exercise executive authority across all operational, financial, and administrative functions of the organization. The CEO must navigate an evolving performing arts landscape marked by shifting donor expectations, contraction in corporate philanthropy, rising production costs, and changing audience behavior—while preserving institutional integrity and international stature. The CEO must also articulate, in partnership with artistic leadership, a clear and forward‑looking vision for The Dallas Opera in a rapidly evolving cultural landscape.

This includes leveraging digital platforms and emerging technologies to expand reach, deepen engagement, and create innovative pathways for artistic experience and institutional growth.

• Define and execute a multi‑year institutional strategy aligned with artistic excellence and financial sustainability.
• Ensure alignment between artistic programming and institutional capacity.
• Partner closely with artistic leadership to uphold the company’s artistic standards and long‑term vision.
• Maintain direct accountability for financial performance and long‑term sustainability.
• Work closely with The Dallas Opera Foundation and the Board’s Finance Committee to ensure long‑term financial alignment and institutional sustainability.
• Lead all major philanthropic strategy and principal gift cultivation.
• Advance innovative audience development and digital engagement strategies that expand institutional reach and relevance.
• Recruit, lead, and retain a high‑performing executive team.
• Foster a culture defined by clarity, accountability, and measurable performance.

The Dallas Opera offers a competitive executive compensation package commensurate with experience and achievement, including comprehensive benefits.

• 10 or more years of successful senior executive leadership experience within one or more major opera, classical music, or performing arts institutions, including demonstrated responsibility within organizations of significant scale and complexity.
• Demonstrated success leading complex arts organizations through periods of financial transition, growth, or…