The Dallas Symphony Orchestra (DSO) is an American

orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, c ...

based in

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

. Its principal performing venue is the

Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center The Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center is a concert hall located in the Arts District of downtown Dallas, Texas ( USA). Ranked one of the world's greatest orchestra halls, it was designed by architect I.M. Pei and acoustician Russell Johnson's ...

in the Arts District of downtown Dallas.

History

The orchestra traces its origins to a concert given by a group of forty musicians in 1900 with conductor Hans Kreissig. It continued to perform and grow in numbers and stature, so that in 1945 it was in a position to appoint

Antal Doráti Antal Doráti (, , ; 9 April 1906 – 13 November 1988) was a Hungarian-born conductor and composer who became a naturalized American citizen in 1943. Biography Antal Doráti was born in Budapest, where his father Alexander Doráti was a vi ...

as music director. Under Doráti, the orchestra became fully professional. Several times during the history of the orchestra it has suspended operations, including periods during the First and Second World Wars from 1914 to 1918 and from 1942 to 1945, and more recently in 1974 due to fiscal restraints. Subsequent music directors have included

Georg Solti Sir Georg Solti ( , ; born György Stern; 21 October 1912 – 5 September 1997) was a Hungarian-British orchestral and operatic conductor, known for his appearances with opera companies in Munich, Frankfurt and London, and as a long-servin ...

Anshel Brusilow Anshel Brusilow (August 14, 1928 – January 15, 2018) was an American violinist, conductor, and music educator at the collegiate level. Early life and education Brusilow was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1928, the son of Ukrainian Jewish ...

, and

Eduardo Mata Eduardo Mata (5 September 19425 January 1995) was a Mexican conductor and composer. Career Mata was born in Mexico City. He studied guitar privately for three years before enrolling in the National Conservatory of Music. From 1960 to 1963 he ...

Andrew Litton Andrew Litton (born May 16, 1959, New York City) is an American orchestral conductor. Litton is a graduate of The Fieldston School. He studied piano with Nadia Reisenberg and conducting with Sixten Ehrling at the Juilliard School of Music in New ...

was music director from 1994 to 2006. During Litton's tenure, the orchestra recorded the four Rachmaninoff piano concerti and the ''

Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini The ''Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini'', Op. 43, (russian: Рапсодия на тему Паганини, ''Rapsodiya na temu Paganini'') is a concertante work written by Sergei Rachmaninoff for piano and orchestra, closely resembling a piano ...

'' with

Stephen Hough Sir Stephen Andrew Gill Hough (; born 22 November 1961) is a British-born classical pianist, composer and writer. He became an Australian citizen in 2005 and thus has dual nationality (his father was born in Australia in 1926). Biography Houg ...

for Hyperion Records. In 2007,

Jaap van Zweden Jaap van Zweden (; born 12 December 1960) is a Dutch conductor and violinist. He is currently music director of the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra and of the New York Philharmonic, and music director-designate of the Seoul Philharmonic. Bi ...

was named the DSO's 15th music director, and began his tenure in the 2008–2009 season with an initial contract of four years. In October 2009, the orchestra announced the extension of van Zweden's contract through the 2015–2016 season. In November 2013, the orchestra announced a further extension of van Zweden's contract through 2019. In January 2016, the orchestra announced the rescheduled conclusion of van Zweden's tenure as music director after the 2017–2018 season, after which time he was scheduled to serve as the orchestra's conductor laureate from 2018 through 2021. In 2002,

Fabio Luisi Fabio Luisi (born 17 January 1959) is an Italian conductor. He is currently principal conductor of the Danish National Symphony Orchestra, music director of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, and chief conductor of the NHK Symphony Orchestra. Biog ...

first guest-conducted the orchestra. His next Dallas guest-conducting appearance was in March 2018. On the basis of this guest-conducting engagement, in June 2018, the orchestra named Luisi its next music director, effective with the 2020-2021 season. He held the title of music director-designate in the 2019-2020 season. In January 2021, the orchestra announced the extension of Luisi's contract as music director through 2029. The current president and chief executive officer of the orchestra is Kim Noltemy. In October 2018, the orchestra announced the appointment of

Gemma New Gemma New (born 27 December 1986) is a New Zealand-born conductor. In 2022 she was appointed principal conductor of the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, becoming the first woman to hold the position in the orchestra's 75-year history. Biography ...

as its next principal guest conductor, the first female conductor to hold the title, effective with the 2019-2020 season. She was reappointed to this position for the 2022–2023 season.

Music directors

* Hans Kreissig (1900–1901) *

Walter Fried Walter Julius Fried (August 18, 1877 – August 18, 1925) was an American violinist and conductor. He served as both music director and as concertmaster of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra between 1911 and 1925 and was also one of Dallas's leadin ...

(1911) *

Carl Venth Carl Venth (February 16, 1860 – January 29, 1938) was a German-American composer, violinist, conductor, music educator, and scholar. He was a leading classical music figure in Texas in the first half of the twentieth century and was one ...

(1911–1914) *

(1918–1924) *

Paul van Katwijk Paul van Katwijk (December 7, 1885–December 11, 1974) was a Dutch-American pianist, conductor, composer, and music educator. He was an important figure in the classical music culture of Dallas, Texas, for much of the 20th century. He serv ...

(1925–1936) *

Jacques Singer Jacques Singer (May 9, 1910 – August 11, 1980) was an American virtuoso violinist, symphony orchestra conductor, and music educator who flourished from about 1925 until a few months before his death in 1980. Career Education Jakob Singer was ...

(1937–1942) *

(1945–1949) *

Walter Hendl Walter Hendl (January 12, 1917April 10, 2007) was an American conductor, composer and pianist. Biography Hendl was born in West New York, New Jersey, and later went on to study with Fritz Reiner at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia ...

(1949–1958) *

Paul Kletzki Paul Kletzki (born Paweł Klecki; 21 March 1900 – 5 March 1973) was a Polish conductor and composer. Biography Born in Łódź, Kletzki joined the Łódź Philharmonic at the age of fifteen as a violinist. After serving in the First World Wa ...

(1958–1961) *

(1961–1962) *

Donald Johanos Donald George Johanos (February 10, 1928 – May 29, 2007) was a conductor and music director with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra and the Honolulu Symphony Orchestra. He was recognized for his support of contemporary classical music. He performed o ...

(1962–1970) *

(1970–1973) * Max Rudolf (1973–1974) *

(1977–1993) *

(1994–2006) *

(2008–2018) *

(2020–present)

Musicians

Members of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra with articles in English Wikipedia include: *

Ryan Anthony Ryan Anthony (May 17, 1969 – June 23, 2020) was an American trumpet player known for his performances as a member of Canadian Brass and his role as principal trumpet of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra. He died on June 23, 2020, after an eight-ye ...

, trumpet 2004–2020, principal 2006–2020 *

Lev Aronson Lev Zacharovitch Aronson (Lew Aronson, Lev Aronoff, Lev Aronov, Lev Arnoff, Lew Arnow, Lew Arnoff-Aramon, Lew Arnoff-Aronson) (February 7, 1912 – November 12, 1988) was an Eastern European-American cellist and cello teacher. Early life Lev A ...

, cello 1948–1967, principal 1949–1967 * Madeleine Begun, oboe c. 1969–1970 * Emanuel Borok, violin, concertmaster 1985–2010 *

Margaret Brouwer Margaret Brouwer (born February 8, 1940, in Ann Arbor, Michigan) is an American composer and composition teacher. She founded the Blue Streak Ensemble chamber music group. Biography Brouwer studied at Oberlin College, graduating in 1962, and re ...

, violin * Rafael Druian, violin, concertmaster 1947–1949 *

Willard Somers Elliot Willard Somers Elliot (18 July 1926 in Fort Worth, Texas – 7 June 2000 in Fort Worth, Texas) was an American bassoonist and composer. He was the bassoonist with the Houston Symphony Orchestra (1946–1949), bassoonist with the Dallas Symphon ...

, bassoon 1951–1964, principal 1956–1964 * Jules Eskin, cello 1948–1949 *

, violin, concertmaster 1911–1914 (also Music Director) *

Richard Giangiulio Richard Cecil Giangiulio (born November 15, 1942), is an American trumpet player and conductor. Born in Philadelphia, Giangiulio began trumpet at the age of 10. Educated at the Curtis Institute of Music, The Juilliard School, and Conservatoire de ...

, trumpet, principal 1969–2001 *

Everett M. Gilmore Everett Millard "Ev" Gilmore, Jr. (December 13, 1935 – April 14, 2005) was an American tubist best known for his association with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, in which he served as principal tubist from 1965 until his retirement in 1995. He w ...

, tuba, principal, 1965–1995 *

Joseph Hawthorne Joseph Campbell Hawthorne (1908 – March 20, 1994) was an American conductor, violinist, violist, and military officer. Born in Provincetown, Massachusetts, he was the son of artists Charles Webster Hawthorne and Ethel "Marion" Campbell. After r ...

, viola, principal 1945–1949 (also associate conductor) *

Frank Kaderabek Frank John Kaderabek (born 1929) is the former principal trumpet of the Philadelphia Orchestra (1975-1995) and former trumpet instructor of the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. Career Born in Chicago, he studied with Edward Masacek and ...

, trumpet, principal 1953–1958 *

Alexander Kerr Alexander John Henry Kerr (2 December 1892 – 4 December 1964) was an English marine engineer and wholesale newsagent. He is best known for his service in the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition of 1914–1916, for which he was awarded the Sil ...

, violin, concertmaster 2011–present * David Kim, violin, senior associate concertmaster 1997–1999 *

William Kraft William Kraft (September 6, 1923 – February 12, 2022) was an American composer, conductor, teacher, timpanist, and percussionist. Biography Early life and education (1923–1954) Kraft was born in Chicago, Illinois. He was awarded two Anton Seid ...

, percussion 1954–1955 *

Andreas Makris Andreas Makris (Greek: Ανδρέας Μακρής; March 7, 1930February 3, 2005)Makris Foundation
accessed Au ...

, violin, principal second 1958–1959 *

Demarre McGill Demarre McGill is an American classical musician who is principal flutist of the Seattle Symphony. He is also one of the few African-American musicians who hold positions in professional orchestras. Early life and education McGill began playing ...

, flute, principal 2013–2016 * Mitchell Peters, percussion, principal c. 1959–1969 *

Robert Xavier Rodriguez Robert Xavier Rodríguez (born June 28, 1946) is an American classical composer, best known for his eight operas and his works for children. Life and career Rodríguez received his early musical education in his native San Antonio and in Aus ...

, Composer in Residence 1982–1983 *

David Shifrin David Shifrin (born January 2, 1950) is an American classical clarinetist and artistic director. Biography David Shifrin received early musical training at the Interlochen Center for the Arts in 1963. He attended the Music Academy of the West sum ...

, clarinet, principal 1970s *

János Starker János Starker (; ; July 5, 1924 – April 28, 2013) was a Hungarian-American cellist. From 1958 until his death, he taught at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, where he held the title of Distinguished Professor. Starker is consider ...

, cello, principal 1948–1949 *

, violin, concertmaster 1927–1931 (also Music Director) *

Ernst Wallfisch Ernst Wallfisch (27 May 1920 in Frankfurt am Main – 8 May 1979 in Northampton, Massachusetts) was a prominent viola soloist, recording artist and pedagogue, primarily remembered along with his wife, pianist Lory Wallfisch, as partners of the Wall ...

, viola, assistant principal 1947–1949 * Harold Wright, clarinet, principal 1952–mid-1950s?

References

External links

Official website of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra

Official website of the Dallas Symphony Chorus

School of Music Program Book 1969-1970
North Texas State University. School of Music. School of Music Program Book 1969-1970. Denton, Texas. UNT Digital Library] {{DSO music directors Music of Dallas Texas classical music Musical groups established in 1900 Wikipedia requested audio of orchestras 1900 establishments in Texas Orchestras based in Texas Symphony orchestras