The Van Cliburn Foundation on Wednesday named David Chambless Worters, president of the North Carolina Symphony, as its new chief executive, according to the Fort Worth, Tex., Star-Telegram and The News & Observer, of Raleigh, N.C.

The appointment caps a nearly yearlong search by the Fort Worth foundation, which oversees the quadrennial Cliburn International Piano Competition, one of the world’s most prestigious musical competitions.

Mr. Worters, who has led the North Carolina orchestra since 1999, will join the Cliburn organization in December. He replaces Richard Rodzinski, who resigned last year to take an executive post with the Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow.