Season announcement

Dallas Symphony packs new season with big stars from Renee Fleming to Ben Folds

Ben Folds is "So There."

Photo courtesy of Dallas Symphony Orchestra

The Dallas Symphony Orchestra is roaring back fortissimo in its first full season on stage, post-pandemic. The orchestra has loaded its 2021-22 season, announced April 1, with exciting Dallas debuts, fan-favorite works, and a dizzying lineup of guest artists from the worlds of opera, Broadway, and pop culture: Denyce Graves, Renée Fleming, Anne-Sophie Mutter, Ben Folds, Chris Botti, Hamilton's Renée Elise Goldsberry, and more.

There are tributes to late Supreme Court Justice Ruther Bader Ginsburg and late Tejano pop star Selena. There's the United States Naval Academy Mens & Women's Glee Clubs; the return of former DSO conductor Andrew Litton with Steven Hough on Tchaikovsky's beloved Piano Concerto No. 1; there's Eugene Onegin, Beethoven "Emperor" Concerto, Mozart Requiem, and so much more that the entire schedule prints out as 11 pages.

“We are thrilled to share a full season of music with our patrons and community,” says Kim Noltemy, Ross Perot President & CEO of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, in a release. “We persevered through the 2020-21 season with incredible creativity and innovation .... The health and safety of our patrons and musicians remains of utmost important, and we have shown that as circumstances change, the DSO adapts its concerts to continue to deliver incredible performances in new ways. That will continue as we move into 2021-22, and we look forward to returning to the stage with a full complement of musicians and larger, full orchestral works."

A DSO spokeswoman adds that they do not expect to restrict audience capacity at the Meyerson Symphony Center next season unless the CDC recommends it.

In Fabio Luisi's second season as Louise W. & Edmund J. Kahn Music Director, the orchestra will perform three world premieres and make the Dallas premieres of five major new works. Luisi and the orchestra will continue their exploration of American music, now with an increased focus on music by people of color, the release says.

“I want to look at the full range of American music and those voices that we know, and those that have been perhaps forgotten," Luisi says in the release. "I would like the audience, my orchestra, and our community to learn more ... and to see how important these voices are to today’s musical life.”

Here is a quick look at the first half of the season. Find more information and artist bios on the DSO's website.

September 3-5: Coco: Movie in Concert, Jayce Ogren conducts

September 10-12: The Music of Selena, featuring Isabel Marie Sanchez, vocalist

September 16-19: Fabio Luisi conducts Bradley Hunter Welch, organist (Copland Organ Symphony)

September 23, 36: Fabio Luisi conducts David Buck, flute (DSO premiere of Joan Tower Flute Concerto)

September 25: DSO Gala Concert & After Party with Anne-Sophie Mutter, violin; Fabio Luisi conducts (DSO premiere of John Williams Violin Concerto No. 2)

October 2: Philharmonia Fantastique - Orchestra Showcase including DSO premiere of Mason Bates' Philharmonia Fantastique

October 3: Chelsea Chen, organ

October 7: Dallas Symphony Presents Tribute to Ruth Bader Ginsburg with Denyce Graves, mezzo-soprano, Jeffrey Biegel, piano, Lidiya Yankovskaya conducts. Includes world premiere of Ellen Taaffe Zwilich's New Work: Honoring Ruth Bader Ginsburg

October 8-10: Chris Botti in Concert with DSO

October 14-17: Carlos Kalmar conducts Garrick Ohlsson, piano (Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 5, "Emperor")

October 20: Erich Bergen's Hollywood Songbook with Erich Bergen, vocalist

October 22-24: Ben Folds in Concert with DSO

October 28-30: Sir Mark Elder conducts Isata Kanneh-Mason, piano (DSO debut)

October 31: Dia de los Muertos Concert

November 4-6: Fabio Luisi conducts Dallas Symphony Chorus and guests in Mozart Requiem

November 5-7: Fabio Luisi conducts Renee Fleming, soprano, Rod Gilfry, baritone in Kevin Puts' The Brightness of Light (DSO premiere)

November 8: Renee Fleming: "Music and Mind" Presentation

November 12-14: Veterans Day Patriotic Pops

November 18-21: Gemma New conducts Nathan Olson, violin (Debussy, Bartok, Beethoven)

December: Christmas Pops, Christmas with Cantus, Big Brassy Christmas & Organ Extravaganza, A Very Swingin' Basic Christmas, New Year's Eve with DSO

For the rest of the season, visit dallassymphony.org.

Subscription packages begin at $165 and go on sale April 15; single tickets will be available at a later time. More information at dallassymphony.org.

celebrities symphony

arts news

Dallas' Crow Museum of Asian Art names new curator ahead of second outpost opening

Crow Museum curator Natalia Di Pietrantonio

Photo by Natali Wiseman

Newly announced curator Natalia Di Pietrantonio.

The Crow Museum of Asian Art of The University of Texas at Dallas has found its new curator. Natalia Di Pietrantonio, Ph.D., hails from the Seattle Art Museum and was selected after a nationwide search.

There, she served as inaugural curator of South Asian art, caring for the museum's South Asian, Southeast Asian, and Islamic art collections while also serving as an affiliate art history faculty member at the University of Washington.

Di Pietrantonio arrives just as the Crow Museum is preparing to debut a second museum next fall.

Designed by global architecture firm Morphosis, the Edith and Peter O’Donnell Athenaeum is being constructed as part of a 12-acre cultural district on the UT Dallas campus.

Over the next year, the 38-year-old curator will work closely with architects, interior designers, academic faculty, and museum staff to select the artworks that will be on view when the new museum opens its doors. She will also guide the 10,000 square feet of gallery space at the original Crow Museum, which was founded in 1998 and is in the downtown Dallas Arts District.

In addition, Di Pietrantonio will serve as a faculty member in the arts department at UT Dallas.

“Natalia brings a wonderful vision, a fresh and energetic perspective, and a proven track record in elevating Asian American art and culture in compelling ways,” says Amy Lewis Hofland, senior director of the Crow Museum of Asian Art of The University of Texas at Dallas. “With her background in South Asian and Islamic art, she also will help build the Crow Museum of Asian Art collection, strengthening it to better reflect the growing diversity of our region.”

A first-generation Mexican American whose first language was Spanish, a release says that "Di Pietrantonio brings over 10 years of professional and academic experience, ranging from highly lauded museum exhibitions and university cultural events to innovative collaborations and unique community outreach experiences."

From 2014-15, she served as a Jane and Morgan Whitney Fellow for the Islamic department at the Metropolitan Museum in New York. She is multilingual and speaks Spanish, Persian, Urdu and English.

At the Seattle Art Museum, she harnessed her expertise of modern and contemporary art to curate two diverse exhibitions: "Embodied Change: South Asian Art Across Time" (January 2022), which focused on the body and female representations in South Asia; and "Our Blue Planet: Global Visions of Water" (March 2022), which addressed climate change and water access.

During her tenure at the Seattle Art Museum, she grew their South Asian collection by 25 percent. She also was the lead curator on the mid-career retrospective of the performance artist Anida Y. Ali that debuts in January 2024.

Recognizing that North Texas has one of the fastest-growing Asian American populations in Texas, Di Pietrantonio is excited to pursue exhibitions and programs that are topical both locally and globally to audiences of all ages and backgrounds. She also intends to bring performance art into the cultural mix at the Crow Museum.

"As the Crow Museum embarks on a new era with a second museum on the horizon, I am honored to be part of its storied history known for dynamic and innovative exhibitions and programs,” says Di Pietrantonio. “My first major goal is to learn more about the North Texas region — from UT Dallas students and museum supporters to neighborhood organizations and our increasingly diverse populations — so I can help align and tailor the museum programs for its communities.”

In 2018, Di Pietrantonio completed her Ph.D. in the history of art at Cornell University, studying under the contemporary artist Iftikhar Dadi with a focus on calligraphy and book arts. Prior to that time, she received a master’s degree in South Asian studies from Columbia University and a bachelor’s degree in art history from the University of California, Davis. It was during her years at UC Davis that a dynamic professor introduced her to Islamic art and ignited her interest.

museums

Season announcement

Dallas Symphony packs new season with big stars from Renee Fleming to Ben Folds

Storied steakhouse in Rockwall to re-open following reverential redo

Reunion Tower in downtown Dallas initiates action to save birds from dying

Award-winning Mexican restaurant hits the jackpot at new location in Denton

arts news

Dallas' Crow Museum of Asian Art names new curator ahead of second outpost opening