Dallas Symphony Orchestra Rounds Out All-Star Roster with New President Bill Lively

By Patrick Michels Wed., Jan. 12 2011 at 11:51 AM

Photos by Patrick Michels

New DSO president Bill Lively leaves it all on the field.

Fans of music and mimosas huddled up in the Meyerson Symphony Center foyer for a very special mystery announcement this morning -- and with Roger Staubach and Mayor Tom Leppert slated to make an appearance, and with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra still short a CEO, you could guess where this one was going.

The honors, though, were saved for Dallas Symphony Orchestra maestro Jaap van Zweden, who beamed in to announce from a TV screen that Super Bowl XLV host committee president Bill Lively would be suiting up as the DSO's new president and CEO this spring.

DSO's interim president and back-to-COO Paul Stewart and board chairman Ron Gafford helped stir the sports metaphors, the former announcing they'd found a "franchise quarterback, like a Roger Staubach," and the latter riffing on having found a teammate for Van Zweden, "who is literally our shot heard round the world."

Staubach related how he'd made such a clutch completion connecting Lively with the DSO, calling it "one of the best things that's happened to me....You're a lucky group to have such a great man."

Then, in the feel-good moment of the morning, Staubach closed his remarks with a feigned sort of fumble, introducing "Senator Leppert," and sending the crowd wild with laughter as Ron Natinsky looked on, Rudy-like, from the sidelines.

Leppert said this was no lateral for the DSO -- "Bill's gonna take all of these skills that he's acquired, and he's gonna elevate it," Leppert said.

Lively emerged from the tunnel behind the podium to hearty handshakes and double-clutches from the speakers, before telling the audience what an honor the new gig was, calling it a return to his musical roots, and saying he'd be getting started this spring, once Super Bowl cleanup had wrapped.

"Dallas is emerging to be a cultural giant," Lively said. "What happens in this building with this orchestra can redefine how we define Dallas."

Roger Staubach helped everyone involved hit a home run for tangled sports-related metaphors.

Leppert thanks Staubach for the campaign plug.

Jaap van Zweden made the big announcement, and issued his demands, remotely from his lair.

Lively is greeted by Leppert and his other biggest fans.

That "Senator Leppert" joke hung around in the air for a while after Staubach made it.

This guy saw it hanging up there too.

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DISD Teacher

I heard Bill Lively will run for Jack Lowe's trustee spot on the DISD school board.

The district he would represent includes Lakewood all the way to Hillcrest High School!I know, right?

I'm open to other opinions, but he just reeks of More of the Same to me when it comes to DISD and the enrichment of friends.

Is he on the Dallas Citizens' Council?Is that apostrophe in the right place?

Also, Bill Lively is the man who put the idea into the head of Gail Thomas that in order to raise any money at all, you need to have a great visual representation, which is what inspired the Trinity Trust to spend a half a million for that scale model of the Trinity River Project. Wonder what his fund-raising visual-aid will be for the Dallas Symphony?

And this is why people round the world will never consider Dallas to be a "world-class" city..... football and symphony, oh yeah, those two go hand-in-hand because football fans are ALL symphony fans!! And symphony fans just LOVE football!! And look, here I am referring to artsy symphony-goers as "fans of" symphony!!

And why is Staubach EVERYWHERE TLep is all the time? What the hell does he have to do with the announcement of the DSO hiring a new CEO? God, this town is so full of itself.....