Katrina McGuinness was appointed Vice President of Artistic Operations for the Dallas Symphony Orchestra in September 2021 and was promoted to Chief Artistic Officer in April 2024. As a member of the senior team, McGuinness oversees all artistic planning, personnel and operations for the orchestra, the education department and education center, the orchestra and choral libraries, the Dallas Symphony Chorus and the Dallas Symphony Children’s Chorus. In her role, she works closely with the Music Director to help realize his vision for the organization. She has served on various juries, panels and advisory boards throughout her career and was a member of the League of American Orchestras Artistic Administrator Constituency.

Prior to her position in Dallas, McGuinness was Director of Artistic Planning for the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra from 2017 to 2021. As head of the classical artistic department, she shaped much of the orchestra’s artistic profile throughout her time there. McGuinness worked closely with the Music Director, crafting multi-disciplinary artistic projects, selecting guest conductors, artists and composers across all demographics to work with the orchestra. McGuinness led the orchestra in a successful search for an Associate Conductor and Concertmaster, as well as spearheading the orchestra’s Music Director search in the first two years of their process.

Having worked as an Assistant Artist Manager at one of the world’s leading artist management companies, her experience in the field of artistic programming and classical artist research is what encouraged her appointment at the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. In 2013, she was appointed Executive Assistant to the Senior Vice President of Artistic Planning and was soon promoted to Manager of Artistic Administration. McGuinness has seen her career progress rapidly and throughout this time, she has built a strong network of relationships in the music business. While pursuing her doctoral studies in piano performance at the Royal Irish Academy of Music in Ireland, she spent two summers working for the Aspen Music Festival and School in administrative roles. Knowing that her career was moving in the direction of artist management, she accepted the offer in 2011 to work for HarrisonParrott Artist Management in London.

Throughout her studies in music performance, McGuinness was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship, an Indiana University Associate Instructorship Scholarship, a Lucien and Maura Teissier Scholarship and a Yamaha Music Foundation Scholarship. While growing up, she took part in numerous music festivals throughout Europe and the US, and studied with some of the most prestigious teachers in the world. She spent most of her studies under the tuition and mentorship of Irish pianist John O’Conor and owes much of her musical intuition to his refined teaching skills and guidance. Following her studies with Thérèse Fahy, Edmund Battersby and Émile Naoumoff, she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the Royal Irish Academy of Music, and a Masters in Music degree and a Performance Diploma from Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, Bloomington. Having studied and worked in the US, UK and Ireland, she brings a broad knowledge and understanding of the different cultures and practices in the music industry and continues to see her career in arts management flourish each year.