Dallas Symphony announces new television program airing on public television stations across the country
ONE SYMPHONY, TWO ORCHESTRAS
Dallas Symphony Orchestra and Members of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra Performed Mahler’s Symphony No. 1
Conducted by DSO Music Director Fabio Luisi
Recorded April 30 and May 1, 2021 in Dallas, Texas
New TV Show Features Full Concert Plus Behind-the-Scenes Footage
Distributed by American Public Television
Airing on KERA-TV Friday, October 29 at 9:00PM and Sunday, October 31 at 12:00PM
Beginning this October, public television stations across the country will air “One Symphony, Two Orchestras”, a new television program featuring the Dallas Symphony Orchestra and Musicians of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra. Distributed by American Public Television, this 90-minute program features the entire concert performance of Mahler’s monumental Symphony No. 1 along with behind-the-scenes footage and documentary-style interviews chronicling the April and May 2021 concert performances, masterclasses and musical gathering that happened in Dallas. KERA-TV in North Texas will air the program on Friday, October 29 at 9:00PM and Sunday, October 31 at 12:00PM.
In April 2021, the Dallas Symphony welcomed members of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra to Dallas for a week of music-making and community. After three rehearsals, the two combined orchestras presented a historic performance of Mahler’s Symphony No. 1 conducted by DSO Music Director Fabio Luisi (Louise W. & Edmund J. Kahn Music Directorship) on April 30 and May 1 at the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center. The Dallas Morning News hailed the performance as a “sonic extravaganza” and full of “dazzling excitement.” A video performance of the event was called “fresh, vivid and cumulatively quite moving” by The New York Times.
This once-in-a-lifetime event benefitted the MET Orchestra Musicians Fund and the DFW Musicians COVID-19 Relief Fund and marked the first time many of the non-DSO musicians had the opportunity to perform for a live audience since the COVID-19 shutdown in March 2020.
The Dallas Symphony recorded this remarkable partnership in a concert video program that includes the full performance, behind-the-scenes footage and interviews with Fabio Luisi and members of both orchestras. The 90-minute program captures the excitement and emotion of the performances and the camaraderie between musicians.
Mahler’s First Symphony is a monumental work for 100-person orchestra. Its grand scale and large sound has been missing from the COVID-reality of smaller chamber orchestras and scaled-down programming. In addition, it is a positive and joyful piece that is a whole world; even with its moments of sorrow and reflection, the end is glorious, optimistic and triumphant.
This event was a reunion with the members of the Metropolitan Opera and Fabio Luisi. Prior to his appointment as Dallas Symphony Orchestra Music Director, Luisi was Principal Guest Conductor of the Metropolitan Opera for six years. He launched his tenure with the DSO at the start of the 2020/21 season, and his performances with the orchestra have been hailed as “elegant” and with “lively and vivid playing.”
“Our time with the Met Opera Orchestra Musicians was inspiring, emotional and full of memories that we all will hold dear for a very long time,” said DSO Ross Perot President & CEO Kim Noltemy. “Playing a Mahler Symphony to 500 audience members in the spring gave us all a feeling of hope and optimism that the classical music community will overcome this pandemic because music is integral to society. The DSO is honored to have welcomed our colleagues to Dallas and into our home for this historic concert.”
This special benefit event was presented by Capital One and made possible by The Marcella Fund, as well as travel partners Dallas Marriott Downtown and Southwest Airlines. The DSO is grateful to Fabio Luisi, Mercedes T. Bass, Joanne Bober and Sarah Titus & Tilda Morris for their support of this event. This production was made possible with support from the O’Donnell Foundation.
ABOUT THE DALLAS SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
The Dallas Symphony Orchestra, under the leadership of Music Director Fabio Luisi, presents world-class orchestral music at the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center, one of the world’s top-rated concert halls. As the largest performing arts organization in the Southwest, the DSO is committed to inspiring the broadest possible audience with distinctive classical programs, inventive pops concerts and innovative multi-media presentations. In fulfilling its commitment to the community, the orchestra reaches more than 243,000 adults and children annually through performances, educational programs and community outreach initiatives.
During the pandemic, the Dallas Symphony was one of a few major U.S. orchestras to present socially distanced concerts with live audiences throughout the 2020/21 Season. Furthermore, the orchestra has offered more than 200 outdoor chamber concerts in neighborhoods throughout the Metroplex since the summer. The DSO continued online music lessons to more than 200 students as part of its Young Strings and Young Musicians programs and increased its online dissemination of concerts through a newly designed website and on social media.
The DSO has a tradition dating back to 1900 and is a cornerstone of the unique, 118-acre Arts District in Downtown Dallas that is home to multiple performing arts venues, museums and parks – the largest district of its kind in the nation. The DSO is supported, in part, by funds from the Office of Arts & Culture, City of Dallas.
ABOUT AMERICAN PUBLIC TELEVISION
American Public Television (APT) is the leading syndicator of high-quality, top-rated programming to the nation’s public television stations. Founded in 1961, APT distributes 250 new program titles per year and more than one-third of the top 100 highest-rated public television titles in the U.S. APT’s diverse catalog includes prominent documentaries, performance, dramas, how-to programs, classic movies, children’s series and news and current affairs programs. Doc Martin, Midsomer Murders, America’s Test Kitchen From Cook’s Illustrated, AfroPoP, Rick Steves’ Europe, Pacific Heartbeat, Christopher Kimball’s Milk Street Television, Legacy List with Matt Paxton, Lidia’s Kitchen, Kevin Belton’s New Orleans Kitchen, Simply Ming, The Best of the Joy of Painting with Bob Ross, Live From the Artists Den, James Patterson’s Kid Stew and NHK Newsline are a sampling of APT’s programs, considered some of the most popular on public television. APT also licenses programs internationally through its APT Worldwide service and distributes Create®TV — featuring the best of public television’s lifestyle programming — and WORLD™, public television’s premier news, science and documentary channel. To find out more about APT’s programs and services, visit APTonline.org.
Media Contacts:
Denise McGovern | Vice President of Communications | Dallas Symphony Orchestra
d.mcgovern@dalsym.com | 214.718.7094