Dallas Symphony Orchestra Announces Sophia Jani as Composer-in-Residence
Two-year position will include performances of Jani’s works, new commissions and
work in the Dallas community
DALLAS, TEXAS (June 23, 2023) – The Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Music Director Fabio Luisi (Louise W. & Edmund J. Kahn Music Directorship) and Ross Perot President & CEO Kim Noltemy today announce the appointment of composer Sophia Jani as the DSO’s new composer-in-residence. This two-year position will begin in the 2023/24 season. The DSO will perform Jani’s Flare in February 2024 with Luisi leading the orchestra, and they will present the European premiere of the work in Munich on the upcoming June 2024 European tour. In February 2025, the DSO will give the world premiere of a newly commissioned work by Jani.
The DSO’s Composer-in-Residence position is a two-year appointment that brings contemporary composers to Dallas to work with the orchestra and Luisi, to program works with chamber ensembles and to work with Dallas-based student composers. The position also includes the commission of a new work that will be premiered by the DSO during the tenure. Recent Composers-in-Residence were American composer Julia Wolfe and Puerto Rican composer Angélica Negrón.
“I first heard Sophia Jani’s work as part of the 2022 Women in Classical Music Symposium,” said Luisi. “Angélica Negrón programmed a chamber work as part of the event, and it led me to learn more about her style and sound for larger ensemble. I am delighted to welcome her to the Dallas Symphony, and I look forward to working with her and performing her works.”
“I am honored to join the DSO in this position, and I am grateful for the opportunity to collaborate with Maestro Luisi and the orchestra,” said Jani. “The DSO has a wonderful history of supporting contemporary music and composers, and I am thrilled to partner with the organization.”
Sophia Jani (b. 1989) is a German composer of contemporary classical music who writes poetically minimalist works. Her music has recently been performed by the New Jersey Symphony, the Munich Symphony, Bang on a Can, musicians of the Dallas Symphony, the Goldmund Quartet, vocal sextet Sjaella and pianist Eunbi Kim among others. Performance venues include the Elbphilharmonie, Lincoln Center, Baryshnikov Arts Center, MASS MoCa, and The Green Space. She has also contributed music to successful film, theater, dance, and album projects. Her debut album of chamber works, 2022’s Music as a mirror, received a nomination for the German Classical Music Prize Opus Klassik.
Jani is also passionate about building an open-minded and international community of artists. To that end, she is one of the founders and artistic directors of Feet Become Ears, which is a platform that commissions, presents, and celebrates contemporary chamber music.
Jani is the 2023 musical Artist in Residence at the Arvo Pärt Centre and the recipient of the APC residency scholarship. She holds degrees from the University of Augsburg, the University of Music and Performing Arts Munich and the Yale University School of Music where she studied with Martin Bresnick and David Lang.
ABOUT THE DALLAS SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
The Dallas Symphony Orchestra, under the leadership of Music Director Fabio Luisi, presents more than 150 orchestra concerts 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 multimedia presentations. As part of its commitment to the community, the orchestra reaches hundreds of thousands of adults and children annually through performances, educational programs and community outreach initiatives. The orchestra offers more than 200 outdoor chamber concerts in neighborhoods throughout Dallas each year, as well as continuing music lessons to more than 700 students as part of its Young Strings and Young Musicians programs.
The Dallas Symphony has used digital and broadcast media to share music beyond its geographic boundaries and has become a leader among American orchestras in digital distribution. The DSO also captures and streams concert performances for distribution online through its Next Stage Digital Concert Series, Presented by PNC Bank. Programs are available on the DSO’s website at watch.dallassymphony.org.
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.
Media Contact:
Denise McGovern | Vice President of Communications & Media
214.718.7094 | d.mcgovern@dalsym.com