“Ann Koonsman, longtime president and CEO of the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra … died Monday after ‘significant health challenges,’ the symphony announced Wednesday. She was 77,” writes James Hartley in Thursday’s (6/24) Fort Worth Star-Telegram. “Koonsman served as president and CEO [of the Fort Worth Symphony] from 2006 to 2011, following a brief retirement from her role as executive director, which she held from 1980 to 2004. Koonsman grew up in Fort Worth…. She was a violinist at TCU, Texas Tech University and the Mannes College of Music in New York, and joined the [Fort Worth] symphony in 1976 as a violinist and assistant manager. She also served as vice president of development. Koonsman told the Star-Telegram in 2011, … ‘I’d hope everyone can say that they have enjoyed their career as much as I have enjoyed mine.’ … Her leadership included selling out Carnegie Hall, playing in tours and international shows, including in China…. When Koonsman first took charge, the symphony’s annual budget was $1 million…. When she announced her first retirement in 2003, that budget had grown to $10 million. In 2011, when she retired as president and CEO, it had a $12 million budget, a 45-week concert season and an endowment valued at around $24 million.” She is survived by her husband, Ron Koonsman.
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