Season announcement

Dallas Symphony rings in 2023-24 season with world premieres and epic musical events

Fabio Luisi, Dallas Symphony Orchestra music director

Fabio Luisi and the DSO will take on Wagner's "Ring Cycle" in 2024.

Photo by Barbara Luisi Photography

Time flies when you're having fun on the podium. The 2023-24 concert season will mark Fabio Luisi's fourth as music director of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra. Together, he and the orchestra have stacked the new season with five world premieres, 11 DSO first-timers, movies-in-concert, jazz and blues, holiday hits, and - oh yes - the teeny tiny commitment of a Wagner Ring Cycle.

“We are thrilled to share this upcoming season of programming with our subscribers and patrons,” says DSO president & CEO Kim Noltemy in a release. “These programs represent a stunning range of genres and combine beloved favorites, unique repertoire and bold new voices. We know that there is something for everyone, and we look forward to welcoming you to the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center.”

According to the release, the Texas Instruments Classical Series will see the return of some of the top artists working today, including Emanuel Ax, Eric Owens, Rudolf Buchbinder, Matthias Goerne, Karen Slack, Jan Lisiecki, Kelley O’Connor and Maxim Vengerov.

Other soloists will make their big DSO debuts, including Jeremy Denk (piano), Maximilian Hornung (cello), Alexi Kenney (violin), Isabel Leonard (soprano), Anthony McGill (clarinet), Golda Schultz (soprano), Inbal Segev (cello) and Tine Thing Helseth (trumpet).

Concerts to bookmark on the calendar include:

Saint-Saëns’s “Organ” Symphony, which will be performed with resident organist Bradley Hunter Welch and recorded on February 22-25, 2024.
For the Dallas Symphony Orchestra Gala on September 30, 2023, Luisi and the DSO will welcome guests Emanuel Ax, piano; Isabel Leonard, mezzo-soprano and the Dallas Symphony Children’s Chorus for an evening of Carmen, Chopin, and Ravel’s La Valse.
The DSO (along with solo singers, chorus, organ) will perform Franz Schmidt’s monumental oratorio The Book with Seven Seals on March 1-3, 2024.
The DSO will perform works by two Ukrainian women composers, Anna Korsun and Victoria Vita Polevá, under the direction of Ukrainian conductor Kirill Karabits, November 9-12, 2023.
Adolphus Hailstork’s JFK: The Last Speech is a DSO co-commission making its Dallas debut October 6-8, 2023, one month before the 60^th anniversary of the death of John F. Kennedy. The work features text from Kennedy’s speech at Amherst College in October 1963, which praises American poet Robert Frost, who had just passed away.

Ring Cycle
Luisi and the DSO will present an opera-in-concert version of Richard Wagner’s complete Der Ring des Nibelungen with internationally renowned singers. It will begin on May 1, 2024 with Das Rheingold and Die Walküre premiering on consecutive nights. The cycle will continue in the fall; Luisi and the DSO will perform Siegfried on October 5, 2024, and Götterdämmerung on October 8, 2024, followed by a week-long presentation of the full Ring cycle beginning on October 13, 2024.

“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,” Luisi says. “Across the entirety of the story, with beautiful music and beautiful text guiding you, you are transformed at the end.”

Pops series
There will be nine pops concerts, three of which will be conducted by principal pops conductor Jeff Tyzik.

Pianist, vocalist and composer Ben Folds will make his long-awaited return with the DSO after canceling performances in fall 2021 due to the rate of COVID-19 infections in the city. He'll have a two-night stand, October 20 and 21, 2023.

Grammy Award-winning singer Lila Downs and singer-songwriter Amos Lee both will make their debuts with DSO, on September 15-16, 2023 and March 22, 2024, respectively.

Movie fans will be intrigued by award-winning film composer Danny Elfman joining the DSO on the stage for Danny Elfman’s Music from the Films of Tim Burton; and three films screened in the Meyerson with scores performed live by the DSO: Amadeus, Harry Potter & The Prisoner of Azkaban, and The Polar Express.

For more information on the new season, subscriptions, and tickets, visit the DSO website.

DSO concerts symphony

A Familiar Face

Dallas Theater Center names Jaime Castañeda as new artistic director

Photo courtesy of Dallas Theater Center

Jaime Castañeda is the Tony-winning theater's new artistic director.

The Tony Award-winning Dallas Theater Center has found its next artistic director: Jaime Castañeda, who has a long history with both DTC and North Texas, will become the regional theater's sixth artistic director beginning July 2026. The 2026-27 season will be the first chosen by him.

Jonathan Norton, DTC’s resident playwright, is currently serving as interim artistic director and will continue to lead the remainder of the 2025-26 season, which culminates in the world premiere of his play Malcolm X and Redd Foxx Washing Dishes at Jimmy’s Chicken Shack in Harlem in May.

“DTC is committed to artistic excellence and community engagement, and we believe Jaime’s experience, creativity, bold vision, and proven leadership, coupled with his dedication to innovation, will guide DTC into an exciting new chapter in the life of the theater," says board chair Lynn Pride Richardson in a release.

In 2012, Castañeda directed DTC’s production of The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity by Kristoffer Diaz. But he began his career more than 20 years ago in Dallas-Fort Worth by founding Firestarter Productions while still attending Texas Christian University. In addition to directing at DTC, other local theater credits include Kitchen Dog Theater, Amphibian Stage, and Circle Theatre. Castañeda is a recipient of the Princess Grace Award, the Drama League Directing Fellowship, and holds a BFA from Texas Christian University and an MFA in Directing from University of Texas at Austin.

Most recently, Castañeda directed at such leading theaters across the country as American Conservatory Theater, South Coast Repertory, Huntington Theatre Company, and La Jolla Playhouse, where he previously served as associate artistic director from 2014-2018. He was also artistic associate at Off-Broadway's Atlantic Theater Company from 2009-2014.

"Jaime brings a bold, visceral artistic vision, a deep commitment to new voices, and a collaborative leadership style that inspires artists and audiences alike,” says DTC executive director Kevin Moriarty. “With his Texas roots and national experience, I am thrilled to welcome him home as DTC’s new Enloe/Rose artistic director. I have known and admired his work since 2007, when he was already one of the most exciting emerging directors in North Texas, and I later saw him create unforgettable work for DTC on the Wyly stage and at leading theaters nationwide.”

As artistic director, Castañeda will lead the theater’s artistic vision, direct and produce plays and musicals, oversee DTC’s Diane and Hal Brierley Resident Acting Company, and partner with Moriarty, the staff, and the board of trustees to advance DTC’s mission, vision, and values.

Castañeda joins a distinguished line of artistic leadership at Dallas Theater Center, including founding artistic director Paul Baker, Adrian Hall, Ken Bryant, Richard Hamburger, and Moriarty, who served as artistic director from 2007-2022.

“We are extremely pleased with a successful national search that brings Jaime to Dallas Theater Center,” says DTC board member Chris Luna. “His energy is contagious and he understands Texas and Dallas. We look forward to collaborating with Jaime as he continues his innovative approach to regional theater.”

Castañeda was selected for the role following a national search led by Management Consultants for the Arts. The search committee was co-chaired by Luna and Richardson, and included Moriarty, Norton, Jennifer Altabef, Diane Brierley, Lauren Embrey, Sam Holland (Dean, SMU Meadows School of the Arts), Sharron Hunt, Randy Kender, Julie Kosnik, Deborah McMurray, Sam Megally, Liz Mikel (DTC Brierley Resident Acting Company member), Andy Smith, Lily Weiss (executive director, Dallas Arts District) and Donna Wilhelm.

“Growing up in Texas, Dallas Theater Center was one of the first places where I saw what professional theater and excellence looked like,” Castañeda says. “I’m thrilled to come back and build on the history of artists and leaders who have been a part of this organization. I’m eager to join Kevin, the board, and our staff to create lasting theatrical experiences for our audiences.”

Dallas Theater Center's current production of A Christmas Carol runs through December 27 at the Wyly Theatre.

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