After five years as a mover and shaker on the Dallas arts scene, Terry D. Loftis is leaving his current job at the Dallas Symphony Orchestra to become president and CEO of the New Jersey Symphony. He starts the new job March 3.
Chief advancement and revenue officer of the DSO for the last two years, the Dallas native spent the previous three years as president and chief executive of the Dallas arts-support organization TACA (The Arts Community Alliance). He went to work in his hometown’s nonprofit arts world after years in advertising, marketing and Broadway productions.
The New Jersey Symphony, led by music director Xian Zhang, performs concerts in six cities throughout the state. In 2026, it plans to move its base of operations to new facilities in Jersey City’s Powerhouse Arts District, a mixed-use development in and around a former power station.
“It was more than anything else the opportunity to be CEO of an arts organization,” said Loftis, who was approached by a headhunter who’d heard Loftis speak to an MBA class at Southern Methodist University. “And the Dallas arts ecosystem was not something that for the immediate future was going to offer that opportunity.
“I was very impressed by Xian, the music director, and the orchestra itself. The energy felt good, the synergy felt good.”
An ebullient presence with a resounding baritone voice and signature bow ties, Loftis oversaw the DSO’s fundraising, marketing, special events and analytical research departments. Supervising the orchestra’s five-year, $100 million endowment campaign, he landed a $10 million gift and was instrumental in securing a $25 million matching gift. His tenure with TACA was widely credited with reversing the organization’s fortunes during the COVID-19 pandemic.
A graduate of Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts, Loftis attended Eastfield College.
