Dear Friends, 

I want to personally welcome you to the Dallas Symphony Orchestra’s 2010-2011 season. Whether you’ve been part of our family for years, or are joining us for the very first time, we hope you enjoy tonight’s performance and return often to enjoy the wide range of programming we have to offer. The coming months bring Maestro van Zweden into his third season as he leads the symphony in major works including Beethoven’s 9^th Symphony, Brahms’ A German Requiem, and Mahler’s emotional Symphony No. 6. Pops fans will welcome the beloved Marvin Hamlisch as he begins his first season as the DSO’s principal pops conductor.

With all that we offer, it’s important to remember those relationships that make it all possible. Support provided by patrons like you is invaluable. However, I want to take a moment to recognize two of our biggest corporate sponsors who will celebrate anniversaries with your symphony this season. For ten years, Texas Instruments has proudly sponsored the Texas Instruments Classical Series. TI has partnered with the DSO for over 50 years to make beautiful music available to all area residents. This support will be recognized for all time--The Eugene McDermott Concert Hall is named for the late co-founder of Texas Instruments. Numerous TI employees, past and present, continue to contribute personally. That certainly includes those who have served on the DSO Board of Governors.

This year we also celebrate AT&T’s 10^th anniversary as title sponsor of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra’s Gala. With this partnership, AT&T has not only enabled us to deliver an exquisite Gala event at the onset of each concert season, but this support also speaks volumes about the value their company places on arts in our community.  For the DSO, building on-going, lasting relationships with companies who call Dallas home is one of our utmost priorities. The Dallas Symphony is a reflection of our city, and I encourage you to thank AT&T, Texas Instruments and all our sponsors for what they do for our community.

Thank you for being with us tonight. This is your symphony so please let us know how we can make your experience more enjoyable. We hope to see you again soon.

Reserve your tickets today!

For the first time in 25 years, Dallas Symphony Orchestra classical concerts will not begin with concertmaster Emanuel Borok walking on stage to initiate the tuning of the orchestra. This season others will sit at the head of the violin section, play solo melodies and accept the handshakes of conductors and soloists.

Borok retired in August from the concertmaster’s chair he occupied since 1985. The search is on for his replacement.

Auditions for a new concertmaster will be held Nov. 15, with candidates playing for a committee of DSO musicians and music director Jaap van Zweden. Promising performers might also be asked to play with the orchestra for a week or two, said Mark Melson, vice president of artistic operations for the DSO. It is hoped a new concertmaster will be in place by the start of the 2011-2012 concert season.

The concertmaster is a throwback to those days before conductors when an ensemble’s first violinist would play leading melodies and also beat time with his bow. When conductors came to prominence in the 1800s, the first chair violinist maintained his authority and prestige.

Today, the concertmaster position is both practical and symbolic. The concertmaster assigns bowings to the first violin section – the up and down strokes of the bow which affect the music’s phrasing and buoyancy – which are followed by all the strings. Read more.

The Dallas Symphony Orchestra experienced a fantastic weekend with Marvin Hamlisch to kick off the 2010-2011 concert season at the Meyerson.

The Gershwin Favorites concerts Hamlisch led Friday through Sunday were a hit artistically and financially. Attendance was up 47 per cent over the season-opening DSO Pops concerts last year. Nearly 20 per cent of last weekend’s audience had never been to a DSO concert before.

Local media reported favorably on the Gershwin Favorites performances by Hamlisch, pianist Kevin Cole and the DSO. (Highlighted phrases each lead to a different news story.) The biggest buzz was generated after Hamlisch selected 17-year-old Dacia Kings to sing “Someone to Watch Over Me” at all three concerts, accompanied by her father, jazz pianist James Kings.

Dacia was among 45 students from Booker T. Washington High School for the Visual and Performing Arts who auditioned for Hamlisch last Thursday for a chance to guest star on an upcoming DSO Pops concert.

Hamlisch chose several dancers and instrumentalists to perform with him at the DSO’s Christmas Pops on Dec. 2-4 at the Meyerson. But it was Dacia’s selection and 24-hour turnaround that captured the most attention and admiration, and she responded with poise during her debut performances at the Meyerson.

Just as Copland’s popular ballet suites are said to sound American, Shostakovich’s symphonies recall Soviet Russia and Debussy conjure feelings unmistakably French, composers from the Baltic countries Latvia and Estonia write music that conveys a character unique to the region. David Patrick Stearns, the music critic at The Philadelphia Inquirer, explored this compositional tradition during a recent visit to Estonia. He talks with and about several important Baltic composers – including the most famous, Arvo Pärt - and describes the sounds and sensibilities that make their symphonic and choral music so unique and beautiful.

Doctors are examining historic accounts and documents to try to definitively determine the cause of Mozart’s death in 1791 at age 35. The story published Tuesday in The New York Times explores our ongoing fascination with the case and ponders the question, Why do music lovers care how famous composers died?

One fascinating revelation – that in Vienna at the end of the 1700s, many of the middle class were buried in communal graves without markers or headstones. I’d always heard Mozart’s unknown burial site described as a “pauper’s grave,” which added insult to the injury of Mozart’s untimely death.

Allow me to introduce myself – I’m Chris Shull, the newest member of the public relations and marketing staff at the Dallas Symphony Orchestra. I started here Aug. 18 after being the freelance classical music critic at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram since 2008.

We have big plans for this blog, and hope updates and more diversified posts will make this DSO Blog more fun and more informative. This blog will continue to be the go-to site for news and announcements regarding the DSO. Here we will still post informative program notes by musicologist Laurie Shulman before every classical concert.

But we hope to add new content to the site, too.

We’ll add video interviews to our array of content. We’ll talk with the DSO’s musicians, guest artists and conductors, and keep you informed about guest soloists and conductors as they perform around the world. We’ll follow the orchestra’s season-long search for a new concertmaster, an important leadership appointment which will affect the orchestra’s music-making for years to come.

We’ll go behind-the-scenes and keep you talking about interesting stories from the classical music world.

We promise you’ll find content that informs and entertains – everything you’ll need to make visits with the DSO at the Meyerson all that more enjoyable and fun.

The Dallas Symphony is excited to be having Pink Martini in concert September 3-5 at the Meyerson part of the 2010-2011 DSO Pops Series! While, they have performed in Texas before, this will be their first time at the Meyerson. They have been receiving rave reviews through out the country, and will be performing great music, creating a fun atmosphere and delighting you through out the entire show! In summary, Pink Martini is a 12-member "little orchestra" from Portland, Oregon, formed in 1994 by pianist Thomas M. Lauderdale. They draw inspiration from music from all over the world – crossing genres of classical, jazz and old-fashioned pop. Read more about Pink Martini.

Gershwin Favorites with Marvin Hamlisch: August 27-29

Gershwin: Selections from Porgy and Bess
Gershwin: "Swanee"
Gershwin: Prelude II
Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue
                   Kevin Cole, piano
Gershwin: Gershwin in Hollywood
Gershwin: "Embraceable You"
                    Marvin Hamlisch, piano
Gershwin: "Someone to Watch Over Me"
                    Marvin Hamlisch, piano
Gershwin: Girl Crazy Overture
Gershwin: An American in Paris

Principal Pops Conductor Marvin Hamlisch leads the DSO in the fascinating rhythms of George Gershwin. The keyboard virtuoso and witty conversationalist is the perfect interpreter of America's favorite jazz stylist. Featuring Kevin Cole.

Guest Artist:
America’s pianist Kevin Cole has delighted audiences with a repertoire that includes the best of 20th Century American Music. Kevin Cole’s performances, especially his interpretation of Gershwin, have prompted accolades from some of the foremost critics in America. Read more.

Marvin Hamlisch:
Marvin Hamlisch begins his first season with the orchestra in August 2010. Hamlisch continues a long relationship with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, and will deepen that with his two-year commitment to the DSO Pops Series as principal pops conductor. Read more.

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Marvin Hamlisch, left, talks about conducting the Dallas Pops Orchestra with WFAA's Gary Cogill.
by GARY COGILL

WFAA

DALLAS — Oscar-winning composer Marvin Hamlisch was in Dallas Monday, getting ready for his upcoming season as the Principal Pops Conductor for the Dallas Symphony Orchestra. Hamlisch talked with Gary Cogill about his new role. Click here to WATCH: http://www.wfaa.com/news/entertainment/cogill/Marvin-Hamlisch-talks-about-Dallas-Pops-99804419.html

Welcome to the DSO's Blog!　
Our goal is to spark interesting conversation - about the DSO, but also about orchestra music in general, its principal players and conductors and our community of music-lovers. The DSO Blog will be a resource where you can find interesting articles, program notes and follow ongoing topics at the DSO such as our search for a new concertmaster.
We want to bring you into the artistic process as we follow the evolution of programs such as our groundbreaking new Pops series, The Masters of Film Music, while giving you a chance to offer your views on where the DSO is headed, and more. Let us know what you think about the new DSO blog by commenting below.