Ian Derrer, general director and CEO of the Dallas Opera for the last eight years, will leave Dallas this summer to head the Canadian Opera Company. The preeminent Canadian opera presenter, the Toronto-based company mounts six productions each season, versus Dallas’ four.
“I am truly proud of the work that we’ve accomplished here in Dallas,” Derrer said in a statement. “I am so very fortunate to have been able to work with a board, staff and community that deeply loves opera, especially our music director, Emmanuel Villaume.
“While I look forward to this new opportunity with COC, I offer my sincerest gratitude and admiration to everyone at TDO and to the generous arts community in North Texas.”
A high point of Derrer’s Dallas tenure was recent completion — indeed, overshooting — of a $25 million challenge grant from the O’Donnell Foundation. With matching gifts and pledges, the capital campaign is adding $54.5 million to the company’s assets, to be divided between the endowment and operating expenses.
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Early in Derrer’s tenure, as with arts organizations worldwide, the COVID-19 pandemic led to canceled productions, staff layoffs and pay cuts. But the company made a remarkable subsequent turnaround under Derrer’s direction, prospering artistically and drawing new audiences.
“He’s done such an incredible job,” said board chair Quincy Roberts. “We’ve just come off this O’Donnell Foundation grant, in which he took the lead. I hate to see Ian go. It’s a bit bittersweet. But I think this is a good time for transition in leadership for the Dallas Opera.
“Ian has built a great foundation in his eight years, and he gives the company great strength to build off of. … It’s been a great pleasure to work with him, and I know he’ll achieve great success in a future job.”
Notable productions in recent seasons have included a psychologically probing 2025 Gluck Orpheus and Eurydice, a stunning 2024 Strauss Elektra, a splendidly cast 2023 Das Rheingold and the world premiere of Joby Talbot’s emotionally powerful The Diving Bell and the Butterfly. The Dallas Opera Orchestra has also undergone dramatic improvement under Villaume, the company’s music director since 2013. The company has continued the annual Hart Institute for Women Conductors and Titus Family vocal recital.
“Ian has been transformational for this company,” Villaume said, “creating a path of financial sustainability while elevating it to the highest artistic standards.”
Derrer came to the Dallas Opera with extensive inside experience in the business, including two prior years as the company’s artistic administrator. Before that, he was general director of Kentucky Opera, and he spent eight years at Lyric Opera of Chicago, as director of production and head of the rehearsal department. Initially trained as a singer, he holds degrees from Southern Methodist University, Northwestern University and Brooklyn College.
Derrer begins at Canadian Opera on July 1.
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