Dallas Symphony Orchestra announces 2018/19 Season

Dallas, TX (February 16, 2018) – The Dallas Symphony Orchestra (DSO) announces programming and events for the 2018/19 Texas Instruments Classical Series, the Dallas Symphony Pops Series, movies in concert and other innovative programming at the DSO.

“The 2018/19 Season offers a wide range of classical and orchestral music to appeal to both dedicated aficionados and new and diverse audiences,” said Kim Noltemy, President & CEO of the Dallas Symphony Association. “From beautifully crafted classical programs to music from the film and pop genres, the Meyerson is the center of great music of many styles and forms. We are looking forward to welcoming the citizens of Dallas and beyond to our world-class performances next season.”

LARGE, EXPANSIVE CLASSICAL PROGRAMS AND AMERICAN MUSIC

This season, the majesty of the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center is host to many large-scale works that are pillars of the classical music canon.

The DSO will perform Mahler’s epic Das Lied von der Erde on January 10, 11 and 13, 2019. Donald Runnicles will lead mezzo-soprano Kelley O’Connor and tenor Russell Thomas in this beautiful orchestral song cycle. The DSO last performed this work in 2001.

Rachmaninoff’s The Bells (Kolokola) was premiered in 1913 in St. Petersburg, Russia, and James Gaffigan will lead the Dallas Symphony’s first performances of the work on April 11, 12 and 13, 2019. The composer set his secular choral work to the poetry of Edgar Allan Poe, translated by Russian symbolist poet Konstantin Balmont.

Matthew Halls will lead the DSO in Haydn’s The Creation. This monumental work is considered the composer’s greatest masterpiece. The oratorio tells the story of the beginning of the world with text from the book of Genesis. Soloists for the program will be Carolyn Sampson (soprano), James Gilchrist (tenor) and Joshua Hopkins (baritone). The full vocal forces of the Dallas Symphony Chorus, under the direction of Joshua Habermann, will join the orchestra to close the 2018/19 season.

“Music from the later Classical period calls to mind smaller orchestral forces and reduced choral formations,” said Peter Czornyj, Vice President of Artistic Operations of the Dallas Symphony Association. “This performance of The Creation will be very different. History points to Haydn’s premiere of the work requiring a much larger orchestra and chorus than normally used in the late 18th century. The DSO will recreate that premiere, resulting in a much more grand but vibrant performance in the opulence of the Meyerson.”

American music will receive prominence in the 2018/19 season. Pulitzer Prize- and GRAMMY® Award-winning composer John Adams will make his DSO debut as conductor in performances of his own works on January 31, February 1 and 2, 2019. His frequent collaborator Leila Josefowicz will solo in Adams’s First Violin Concerto, and the composer will open the program with Short Ride in a Fast Machine. American conductor David Zinman will conduct Aaron Copland’s Appalachian Spring in concerts on November 1, 2, 3 and 4, 2018. Jamie Bernstein, daughter of composer Leonard Bernstein, will appear in a Family Concert presentation of “The Bernstein Beat” on November 10, 2018, as part of a series in celebration of the composer’s centennial. In addition, pianist Orli Shaham will solo in Bernstein’s Symphony No. 2, “Age of Anxiety” conducted by David Robertson on April 25, 26, 27 and 28, 2019. Dallas-born composer Christopher Theofanidis’s Rainbow Body will be performed in concerts on October 4, 5, 6 and 7, 2018.

INTERNATIONALLY ACCLAIMED GUEST ARTISTS

Conductors from the DSO family will return to the podium in the 2018/19 season. Conductor Laureate Jaap van Zweden will lead the DSO in a performance of Mahler’s Symphony No. 1 on March 14 and 15, 2019. Assistant Conductor Ruth Reinhardt will take the podium for music by Hindemith, Beethoven and Kodály on October 11-14, 2018, and former Assistant Conductor Karina Canellakis will conduct a concert featuring music by Elgar, Beethoven and Schumann on May 9-11, 2019. Former DSO Principal Guest Conductor Claus Peter Flor will return to the Meyerson on September 27, 28 and 30, 2018, in a program of music by Richard Strauss and Richard Wagner.

Guest conductors for the 2018/19 season include Lionel Bringuier, Andrew Grams, Giancarlo Guerrero, Pablo Heras-Casado, Carlos Kalmar, David Robertson, John Storgårds, Krzysztof Urbański, Juraj Valčuha and David Zinman.

Leonidas Kavakos has been named DSO Artist-in-Residence and will appear with the Dallas Symphony for two weeks of performances in October 2018. Kavakos will join guest conductor Giancarlo Guerrero and perform Shostakovich’s Violin Concerto No. 1 on October 19, 20 and 21. The second weekend of concerts, October 25, 26, 27 and 28, Kavakos will conduct the orchestra in Mozart’s Symphony No. 31, “Paris” and Dvořák’s Symphony No. 7, and will solo and conduct on Mozart’s Violin Concerto No. 5, “Turkish.”

The Dallas Symphony will welcome many artists in their DSO debuts during the season, including Renaud Capuçon (Brahms Violin Concerto), Stefan Jackiw (Mendelssohn Violin Concerto), Aga Mikolaj (Strauss Four Last Songs) and Andrew von Oeyen (Grieg Piano Concerto).

Further celebrated guest artists for the upcoming season include Jonathan Biss, Yefim Bronfman, David Fray, Karen Gomyo, Hélène Grimaud, Augustin Hadelich, Jan Lisiecki, Daniel Müller-Schott and Orli Shaham. Important vocal soloists will include Andrei Bondarenko, James Gilchrist, Joshua Hopkins, Carolyn Sampson and Sergey Skorokhodov.

“This season will give focus to and highlight the superb artistry of the musicians of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra,” said Czornyj. “The repertoire spans many time periods and reflects many styles: majestic works by Mahler; symphonies by Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven; fascinating kaleidoscopic orchestral pieces by Copland, Respighi, Mussorgsky and Ravel; and iconic 20th century symphonies from Walton, Nielsen and Bernstein. Audiences will find so much to enjoy and discover in each week of performances.”

NANCY A. NASHER AND DAVID J. HAEMISEGGER FAMILY SOLUNA INTERNATIONAL MUSIC & ARTS FESTIVAL MOVES TO APRIL

In SOLUNA’s fifth year, the festival will move to April to align with Dallas Art Fair and the city-wide Dallas Arts Month. SOLUNA 2019 will run from April 6-28, 2019. Programming for this multi-disciplinary festival will be announced in November 2018.

2018 DSO GALA

For the first time in nearly ten years, the DSO Gala Concert will feature an artist from the Great White Way. Emmy and Tony® Award-winning singer/actress Kristin Chenoweth will take center stage with the DSO following an elegant evening of food, fun and festivities at the Meyerson. She is best known as the original Glinda in the musical Wicked and for recurring roles in Glee and The West Wing. Her most recent album, The Art of Elegance debuted at #1 on Billboard’s Current Jazz and Traditional Jazz charts, and #1 on Amazon’s Vocal Pop chart.

The DSO Gala is one of the Dallas Symphony’s largest annual fundraisers, benefitting the DSO’s music and education programs which touch the lives of more than 230,000 North Texas residents annually, including more than 30,000 children. The black-tie event on September 15, 2018, will feature a cocktail reception, elegant seated dinner, Gala Concert performed by the Dallas Symphony Orchestra and Chenoweth, followed by the Gala After-Party featuring savories, desserts and dancing to live DJ-spun music.

Full-evening Gala tickets start at $1,250 each and include the pre-concert reception, dinner, premium concert hall seating and the After-Party. For information about full Gala tickets, table purchases and Gala sponsorships, call Tab Boyles at 214.871.4045 or email at Gala@DalSym.com.

Concert/After-Party tickets, which do not include the pre-concert reception or dinner, will be available as a DSO subscription add-on. Single tickets will go on sale on April 12, 2018.

REMIX

In its sixth year, the DSO’s casual concert series ReMix will bring the DSO down Flora Street to the Moody Performance Hall for three concerts during the season. Ruth Reinhardt will lead the first performances on September 21 and 22, 2018. The program will include Ravel’s Le tombeau de Couperin and Mendelssohn’s Italian Symphony.

Concertmaster Alexander Kerr will direct and solo with the DSO at ReMix on February 8 and 9, 2019. The concert will open with Mozart’s Symphony No. 25, and Co-Concertmaster Nathan Olson will join Kerr as soloist in Arvo Pärt’s Tabula Rasa, a work for two solo violins, chamber orchestra and prepared piano. The concert will conclude with Bartók’s Rumanian Folk Dances.

“I am so excited to lead the DSO in a ReMix Concert next season,” said Kerr. “I’ve chosen the repertoire for this performance specifically to give the audience the feeling that it is attending a chamber music program: three works, vastly different in style and character that coalesce to form an entertaining but challenging musical journey.

“In this concert there will be no conductor, no rules, just fantastic and fun music in a setting where people can more intimately see the immediate communication that goes on amongst the group every day.”

The final ReMix program will be part of the Nancy A. Nasher and David J. Haemisegger Family SOLUNA International Music & Arts Festival in April 2019. Details of the concert will be announced in November 2018.

POPS AND POP CULTURE

Principal Pops Conductor Jeff Tyzik will return to the DSO in 2018/19 for his sixth season during which the Pops Series will feature a wide range of exciting music.

The season will open with Women Rock – a concert honoring some of the most notable women in rock and roll, from Aretha Franklin to Tina Turner to Pat Benatar.

Orff’s Carmina Burana will headline a colorful concert on October 4, 5, 6 and 7, 2018. The Dallas Symphony Chorus and Children’s Chorus of Greater Dallas will join the DSO for those performances, to be conducted by returning guest conductor Brett Mitchell.

A Bernstein Tribute will commemorate the 100th birthday of this iconic American composer. Soprano Nadine Sierra will debut with the DSO in a program featuring Bernstein favorites, conducted by Jeff Tyzik.

With a special concert in January, the DSO will also pay tribute to Prince, whose music defined the sound of a generation of pop acts.

Movies and movie music will be featured prominently during the Pops season. The music of John Williams will celebrate the holidays when the DSO performs selections from Home Alone, Harry Potter and more on November 30, December 1 and 2, 2018. Disney’s The Little Mermaid ushered in a new era of animation and animated hits. The beloved film will be presented at the Meyerson – projected in HD on the big screen – as the DSO performs Alan Menken’s Academy Award-winning score conducted by Sarah Hicks on February 22-24, 2019. Later in the season, audiences will be able to enjoy music from Star Trek, E.T., Star Wars and more as the DSO performs music from cherished sci-fi classics.

Broadway performers and beloved songs will ring throughout the concert hall in the 2018/19 season. Tony® Award-winning Hamilton star Leslie Odom, Jr. will make his debut with the DSO in March 2019. The evening will feature selections from Broadway, the American songbook and songs from Hamilton. Andrew Lloyd Webber has created some of the most enduring themes in Broadway history. His music will be the star in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Broadway in May 2019.

MOVIES IN CONCERT AND OTHER INNOVATIVE PROGRAMMING

Movies at the Meyerson have been some of the DSO’s most popular performances in recent years, and the 2018/19 season will present blockbusters of the highest order.

Jurassic Park turns 25 this year, and the newest film, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, will hit theaters in June 2018. The DSO will bring the original movie to the Meyerson and perform John Williams’s score along with the movie presentation on August 31 and September 1, 2018.

Star Wars fever has never been higher, and the DSO is proud to present Star Wars: A New Hope in concert. The full classic film will be screened in HD as the DSO plays the iconic score by John Williams in December 2018.

The sounds of jazz will liven up the holiday season when the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra along with Wynton Marsalis visit Dallas for their holiday show on December 5, 2018.

Never to be taken seriously, comedy troupe Second City comes to town to give the orchestra a little ribbing with the Second City Guide to the Symphony in January 2019.

Special presentations will be available as add-ons to subscription packages. Single tickets will go on sale this summer.

Classical favorites, great discoveries, movie scores and pop culture all meet during the 2018/19 DSO concert season. Music lovers of all types will find what they love at the Meyerson.

Subscription packages for the 2018/19 season are now on sale and range from $119-$1,789. Single tickets will go on sale this summer. More information on the programming and package offerings are available at www.mydso.com or by calling Guest Services at 214.TIX.4DSO.

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