This morning in the foyer of the Meyerson Symphony Center, the Dallas Symphony Orchestra revealed plans for a large-scale festival of the arts. In May 2015, Soluna brings together the city's artistic institutions as the foundation for the festival that will include international artists and commissions of new work.
President of the DSO, Jonathan Martin, says he hopes this festival was an answer to the question constantly raised by Maestro Jaap van Zweden, "Where is classical music headed and how do we as an orchestra maintain its relevance?"
Each year, the festival organizers will choose a theme on which participants will base new work. The theme for 2015 is "Destination (America)," which Martin hopes will encourage artists to think about the American immigration experience.
Anna Sophia van Zweden, Director of Festival Advancement, announced one of the first commissions for the festival will be a video work by Swiss artist Pipilotti Rist to accompany a symphony performance on May 8 & 9, 2015. Other work announced for the festival include a film by Yael Bartana, which will be screened before a performance of "Kaddish," Leonard Bernstein's Third Symphony.
The Dallas institutions that have signed on as partners include Dallas Black Dance Theatre, Dallas Contemporary, Dallas Theater Center, the Goss-Michael Foundation and 10s of others. It's hard to know exactly what this festival will look like on the ground, but it sounds promising.
