Dallas Symphony Orchestra Announces 2024-25 Concert Season, Fabio Luisi’s Fifth Season as Music Director

Texas Instruments Classical Series features beloved masterworks alongside bold contemporary selections

DSO will become the first US orchestra in recent history to perform Wagner’s Complete Ring Cycle in concert

Pops Series Presented by Capital One highlights Broadway favorites, blues, jazz, movies-in-concert and more

The season includes three world premieres, two co-commissions and fourteen DSO premieres

DALLAS, TX (February 23, 2024) – Dallas Symphony Orchestra (DSO) announces its 2024/25 season, led by Music Director Fabio Luisi (Louise W. & Edmund J. Kahn Music Directorship), Principal Pops Conductor Jeff Tyzik (Dot & Paul Mason Podium) and Principal Conductor of Dallas Symphony Presents Enrico Lopez-Yañez (Nancy A. Nasher and David J. Haemisegger Chair). Subscriptions for the season are on sale today, February 23, 2024, and single tickets will be available later this spring.

“The DSO is thrilled to unveil programming for the 2024/25 concert season, and we hope our patrons and subscribers are just as excited to see what’s in store for the upcoming season,” said Kim Noltemy, Ross Perot President & CEO of the Dallas Symphony. “We have packed the season with well-loved classics, a fantastic lineup of guest artists and conductors, dynamic new works from composers never-before-heard in Dallas and so much more.”

TEXAS INSTRUMENTS CLASSICAL SERIES

The 2024/25 season marks Fabio Luisi’s fifth as the DSO’s Music Director, and he will lead the orchestra in ten concerts as part of the Texas Instruments Classical Series.

“Going into my fifth year of this musical partnership with the incredible musicians at the DSO, we have developed a distinctively ‘Dallas’ sound, of which I am immensely proud,” said Luisi. “We are playing at a high artistic level, and I look forward to building upon that and sharing beautiful music with Dallas audiences in the 2024/25 concert season.”

Featured Artists and Conductors

The DSO will welcome back to the stage some of the most in-demand performers today, including Jean-Yves Thibaudet (piano), Augustin Hadelich (violin), Jamie Barton (mezzo-soprano), Hélène Grimaud (piano) and Leonidas Kavakos (violin). Additionally, Anne-Marie McDermott, acclaimed pianist and Artistic Director of Bravo! Vail, which hosts the DSO in residency each summer, will perform Amy Beach’s Piano Concerto with the orchestra in November. Many other incredible artists will grace the Meyerson stage for the first time this season, including Francesca Dego (violin), Charles Yang (violin), Norman Garrett (baritone), Nelson Goerner (piano), Benjamin Grovesnor (piano), Sofia Fomina (soprano)and Catriona Morison (mezzo-soprano).

The 2024/25 season sees the return of several celebrated conductors, including former DSO Music Director Jaap van Zweden, who will lead the orchestra in concerts featuring Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 5 (May 1 – 3, 2025), in his first appearances in Dallas since 2018. Other notable conductors this season will include returns to the podium for Juanjo Mena, Matthew Halls and John Storgårds, along with Edward Gardner, Anu Tali, Markus Poschner, Mortiz Gnann, Giedrė Šlekytė, Aziz Shokhakimov, Jonathon Heyward and Ilan Volkov in their DSO debuts.

Several DSO principal musicians will take center stage this season as featured soloists, including Principal Oboe Erin Hannigan (Nancy P. & John G. Penson Chair), Concertmaster Alexander Kerr (Michael L. Rosenberg Chair) and Principal Harp Emily Levin (Elsa von Seggern Chair). Additionally, the orchestra will perform the world premiere of Sean Shepherd’s Concerto for Flute, Oboe, Clarinet and Bassoon featuring DSO Principal Winds David Buck (Principal Flute, Joy & Ronald Mankoff Chair), Erin Hannigan, Gregory Raden (Principal Clarinet, Mr. & Mrs. C. Thomas May, Jr. Chair)and Ted Soluri (Principal Bassoon, Irene H. Wadel & Robert I. Atha, Jr. Chair), for which the DSO is the lead commissioner.

“The DSO is home to so many incredible musicians who perform for our audiences each week, and I am delighted that their talents will be showcased in a major way this season,” said Katie McGuinness, DSO’s Wildenthal Families Vice President of Artistic Operations. “I am particularly thrilled that our principal wind players will be featured in Sean Shepherd’s new concerto and that the DSO will be able to host the world premiere this coming season.”

Premieres

“Our orchestra is one of America’s best at commissioning new works.” – D Magazine, 2023

Continuing its longstanding tradition of championing contemporary composers, the DSO has commissioned and will present three world premieres this season. First, Fabio Luisi and the orchestra will work with Native American, Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Raven Chacon on a new orchestral work to be performed February 6 – 9, 2025. The 2024/25 season also features world premieres from DSO composer-in-residence Sophia Jani (March 6 – 9, 2025) and Sean Shepherd (April 17 – 19, 2025).

The orchestra will also present the US premiere of Andrew Norman’s Concerto for Trombone and Orchestra April 10 – 12, 2025, featuring celebrated trombonist Jörgen van Rijen. The season also includes Dallas premieres of Estonian composer Allison Kruusmaa’s Five Arabesques for Chamber Orchestra and Amy Beach’s Piano Concerto (November 1 – 3, 2024), in a program highlighting female musicians leading into the DSO’s sixth annual Women in Classical Music Symposium (November 3 – 6, 2024); film composer Kris Bowers’ For a Younger Self (November 29 – December 1, 2024) featuring rising star violinist Charles Yang; Arlene Sierra’s new work, Kiskadee, which was commissioned by the League of American Orchestras with the generous support of the Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation (March 6 – 9, 2025); Julia Perry’s Stabat Mater (March 13 – 15, 2025); and Dallas-based composer Kyle Gann’s Serenity Meditation after Ives (May 22 – 24, 2025).

Richard Wagner’s Ring Cycle Operas-in-Concert

Following the DSO’s performances of Das Rheingold and Die Walküre in the spring of the 2023/24 season, the orchestra will present an opera-in-concert version of Wagner’s epic Der Ring des Nibelungen (the Ring cycle) in its entirety, becoming the first American orchestra in recent history to do so. Luisi and the DSO will perform Siegfried on October 5, 2024, and Götterdämmerung on October 8, 2024, followed by the week-long presentation of the full Ring cycle beginning on Sunday, October 13, 2024.

This enormous endeavor is the culmination of many years of planning by DSO artistic staff and leadership and features a massive orchestra of over 100 players and a cast of more than 30 vocalists on stage at the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center. The star-studded cast list includes Lise Lindstrom (soprano, Brünnhilde), Sara Jakubiak (soprano, Sieglinde), Deniz Uzun (mezzo-soprano, Fricka), Daniel Johanssohn (tenor, Siegfried), Mark Delavan (bass-baritone, Wotan), and Tomas Tomasson (baritone, Alberich). The production will be led by staging director Alberto Triola, who also produced the DSO’s opera-in-concert performances of R. Strauss’ Salome in 2020 and Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin in 2022.  

Fabio Luisi’s work in opera is extensive and celebrated, with nine years at the helm of the Zurich Opera and six years as Principal Guest Conductor of The Metropolitan Opera, during which he won a GRAMMY® Award for his leadership of the last two operas of Wagner’s Ring Cycle.

“The Ring Cycle is one of the deepest and most complex musical works that has ever been written. It is all of humanity brought to the stage – family, love, sex, loss, consequences and the quest for power,” said Luisi. “Across the entirety of the story, with beautiful music and beautiful text guiding you, you are transformed at the end.”

This project is generously supported by Mercedes T. Bass, Joanne Bober, Diane and Hal Brierley, Susan and Mark Geyer, Joe Hubach and Colleen O’Connor, Jo Jagoda, Holly and Tom Mayer, The Eugene McDermott Foundation, The Morton H. Meyerson Family Foundation, Sarah Titus and Jean Ann Titus, Kern and Marnie Wildenthal and Karen and Jim Wiley.

2024 Dallas Symphony Orchestra Gala

The DSO, led by Music Director Fabio Luisi, will welcome superstar pianist, Lang Lang in a one-night-only performance of Rachmaninoff’s expressively virtuosic Second Piano Concerto on Saturday, September 28, 2024. This once-a-season fundraising event will benefit the DSO’s education and outreach programs. The DSO will soon announce the 2025 gala chairs and leadership team, along with ticketing options for the full gala experience as well as the concert and after party.

Other Highlights

  • Bartók The Wooden Prince: Dallas audiences will hear the Hungarian composer’s massive, bombastic ballet score for the first time November 14 – 17, 2024. The DSO has a historic connection to Bartók through former Music Director Antal Doráti (1945-49), who was a student of Bartók and Zoltan Kodaly and championed the music of his fellow Hungarians. It was under Doráti that the Dallas Symphony recorded Bartók’s Second Violin Concerto with Yehudi Menuhin and gave the North American premiere of Bartók’s Duke Bluebeard’s Castle in 1949.
  • Sibelius Symphony No. 3: Finnish conductor and violinist John Storgårds returns to the Meyerson stage as both performer and conductor in a unique program April 3 – 6, 2025. Storgårds will perform the solo violin part from the podium in the DSO premiere of jazz composer Keith Jarrett’s Elegy for Violin and String Orchestra. He will also lead the orchestra in Henriette Renié’s Concerto for Harp and Orchestra (DSO debut) with soloist Emily Levin and Sibelius’ Third Symphony.
  • Mahler Symphony No. 2, “Resurrection:” Fabio Luisi leads the DSO and Dallas Symphony Chorus in performances of Mahler’s transcendent Second Symphony May 30 – June 2, 2025. Mahler’s Second Symphony holds special significance for Dallas symphony-goers as the first subscription concert ever performed at the newly opened Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center in 1989 under former Music Director Eduardo Mata.
  • Cherished Classics: An incredible selection of popular symphonic works spans the entire season, including Elgar’s Enigma Variations (November 1 – 3, 2024), Mozart Symphony No. 41, “Jupiter” (November 22 – 24, 2024), Dvořák Symphony No. 9, “From the New World” (November 29 – December 1, 2024), Berlioz’s Symphonie fantastique (January 23 – 26, 2025), Beethoven Symphonies No. 5 (February 6 – 9, 2025) and No. 3, “Eroica” (May 22 – 24, 2025), Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring (April 10 -12, 2025) and Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 3, “Scottish” (April 17 – 19, 2025), among others.

Recordings

The DSO will record several performances this season for future commercial release on its in-house label DSO Live, including Brahms Symphony No. 4, the final installment in the orchestra’s initiative with Fabio Luisi to record all four of the Romantic composer’s symphonies. The orchestra will also record Sophia Jani’s new work, Arlene Sierra’s Kiskadee and Julia Perry’s Stabat Mater.

POPS SERIES PRESENTED BY CAPITAL ONE & OTHER SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS

The 2024/25 season marks Jeff Tyzik’s twelfth year as Principal Pops Conductor, and he will lead the DSO in three concerts within the Pops Series Presented by Capital One. Twist and Shout: The Music of The Beatles (September 20 – 22, 2024) will feature beloved songs by The Beatles in honor of the 60th anniversary of the “Fab Four’s” appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1964. Timeless classics like “Can’t Buy Me Love,” “A Hard Day’s Night,” “Help!” and “Yesterday,” will be brought to life alongside projections of rare and previously unseen photos and videos of the band playing above the orchestra.

Broadway star Chester Gregory (Motown: The Musical) and vocal powerhouses Ashley Jayy and Brik.Liam will sing and play timeless Motown favorites like “I Heard it Through the Grapevine,” “Don’t Leave Me This Way” and “I’m Coming Out” in Let’s Groove Tonight: Motown & the Philly Sound (February 21 – 23, 2025).

Tyzik closes out the 2024/25 Pops series with ¡Bailamos! A Night of Latin Music (May 9 – 11, 2025), featuring sultry tango classics and ballads with an all-star lineup of artists including GRAMMY® Award-winning Argentine bandoneón player Héctor Del Curto, singer/songwriter/guitarist Edna Vázquez and Argentine master dancers Celina Rotundo and Hugo Patyn.

“I always look forward to working with the Dallas Symphony, and I’m thrilled to return to the podium this season to share these exciting programs with Dallas audiences,” said Tyzik. “We have something for everyone in this season, from the seminal, catchy tunes by The Beatles to the soulful, infectious music of Motown artists.”

Chart-topping piano artist Lara Downes joins the DSO (November 8 – 10, 2024) to perform A Lovesome Thing: Billy Strayhorn Suite, a work co-commissioned by the DSO and premiered by her in 2022 with the Boston Pops. The work celebrates jazz pianist and composer Billy Strayhorn, who was pivotal in creating the unique sound and spirit of American music in the early 20th century, and his 30-year collaboration with Duke Ellington.

Newly appointed Principal Conductor, Dallas Symphony Presents, Enrico Lopez-Yañez (Nancy A. Nasher & David J. Haemisegger Chair) takes the helm for five special programs this season as part of the DSP series, including the annual Día De Los Muertos concert, featuring traditional Latin American music and colorful festivities. Lopez-Yañez will also lead the orchestra in a show of his own design, called Disco Fever, which takes audience members on a groovy trip down memory lane with 70s and 80s favorites like “It’s Raining Men” and “Stayin’ Alive.” The show also features an onstage “dance-off” led by the conductor.

“I am delighted to return for my second season as Principal Conductor for the Dallas Symphony Presents series,” said Lopez-Yañez. “This is an exciting season of pops and special programming, and I look forward to spending more time in Dallas, exploring the city, getting to know the audience even better and working with the incredible DSO musicians.”

The big screen returns to the Meyerson with the DSO’s popular movies-in-concert this season, featuring Harry Potter & The Goblet of Fire ™ (August 29 – September 1, 2024), the beloved holiday classic Elf ™ (December 20 – 22, 2024) and The Princess Bride © (April 25 – 27, 2025).

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About the Dallas Symphony Orchestra
The Dallas Symphony Orchestra, under the leadership of Music Director Fabio Luisi, presents more than 150 orchestra concerts annually 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. 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 also offers more than 200 concerts in neighborhoods throughout Dallas each year, as well as music lessons to more than 1200 students as part of its Young Strings and Kim Noltemy Young Musicians programs. 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. Visit DallasSymphony.org for more information.

About Fabio Luisi
GRAMMY® Award winner Fabio Luisi launched his tenure as Louise W. & Edmund J. Kahn Music Director of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra (DSO) at the start of the 2020/21 season. In January 2021, the DSO and Luisi announced an extension of the Music Director’s contract through the 2028/29 season. A maestro of major international standing, the Italian conductor is in his seventh season as Principal Conductor of the Danish National Symphony Orchestra, and in September 2022, he assumed the role of Principal Conductor of the NHK Symphony Orchestra in Tokyo. He previously served for six seasons as Principal Conductor of the Metropolitan Opera and nine seasons as General Music Director of the Zurich Opera.

The conductor received his first GRAMMY® Award in March 2013 for his leadership of the last two operas of Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen, when Deutsche Grammophon’s DVD release of the full cycle, recorded live at the Met, was named Best Opera Recording of 2012. In February 2015, the Philharmonia Zurich launched its Philharmonia Records label with three Luisi recordings: Berlioz’s Symphonie fantastique, a double album surveying Wagner’s Preludes and Interludes, and a DVD of Verdi’s Rigoletto. Subsequent releases have included a survey of Rachmaninov’s Four Piano Concertos and Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini with soloist Lise de la Salle, and a rare recording of the original version of Bruckner’s monumental Symphony No. 8. Luisi’s extensive discography also includes rare Verdi operas (Jérusalem, Alzira and Aroldo), Salieri’s La locandiera, Bellini’s I puritani and I Capuleti e i Montecchi with Anna Netrebko and Elīna Garanča for Deutsche Grammophon, and the symphonic repertoire of Honegger, Respighi and Liszt. He has recorded all the symphonies and the oratorio Das Buch mit sieben Siegeln by neglected Austrian composer Franz Schmidt, several works by Richard Strauss for Sony Classical, and an award – winning account of Bruckner’s Ninth Symphony with the Staatskapelle Dresden.

Born in Genoa in 1959, Luisi began piano studies at the age of four and received his diploma from the Conservatorio Niccolò Paganini in 1978. He later studied conducting with Milan Horvat at the University for Music and Performing Arts in Graz. Named both Cavaliere della Repubblica Italiana and Commendatore della Stella d’Italia for his role in promoting Italian culture abroad, in 2014 he was awarded the Grifo d’Oro, the highest honor given by the city of Genoa, for his contributions to the city’s cultural legacy. Off the podium, Luisi is an accomplished composer whose Saint Bonaventure Mass received its world premiere at St. Bonaventure University, followed by its New York City premiere in the MetLiveArts series, with the Buffalo Philharmonic and Chorus. As reported by the New York Times, CBS Sunday Morning and elsewhere, he is also a passionate maker of perfumes, which he produces in a one-person operation, FLPARFUMS.COM.

Media Contacts:

Chelsey Norris, Director of Communications
c.norris@dalsym.com
214.871.4063

Denise McGovern, Vice President of Communications and Media
d.mcgovern@dalsym.com
214.718.7094