Audio By Carbonatix
Mixmaster presents “100 Creatives,” in which we feature cultural entrepreneurs of Dallas in random order.
Earlier this year, the Dallas Symphony Orchestra unveiled its secret weapon. While Jaap van Zweden builds a top level orchestra, his daughter has been at work behind the scenes helping him strategize how to bring in younger audiences. She’s chaired the annual gala, planning a fun after party that stretches late into the night. And it was announced in April that she will serve as the Director of Festival Advancement for the Soluna Festival, which is set to launch in May 2015.
Her multi-disciplinary background, primarily in visual art and museum studies, has allowed her to approach the festival in an inclusive way, pairing international visual artists with the DSO, inviting dance companies to participate, and working the Dallas Museum of Art to program performance art. And that’s just a tiny piece of what’s to come. We’re excited to see how it all comes together, but with Anna Sophia orchestrating its first year, we’re expecting great things.
How did Soluna come to be?
Well, the Dallas Symphony, they have been thinking about a festival for a while and a lot of orchestras do festivals. My father wanted to do it a little bit different. He’s very much into opening up the symphony for younger audiences, so it’s always been a theme we’ve had in the back of our minds. And I’ve chaired the Dallas Symphony Gala for five years now, even though my focus is on art, so I’ve been involved for years already. And we were developing these ideas and I was meeting with Johnathan Martin, the CEO of the DSO, to talk about the festival, at the same time I’m meeting with these artists and galleries in New York who wanted to be involved with something in Dallas because the buzz in the international art scene is growing about Dallas. So all this talking led to an interest in collaborating with all the institutions in the arts district, but also to bring in artists from all over the world to work with an orchestra.
Is there a model of something like this?
No. That’s the exciting part and also the challenging part. The infrastructure here, there’s not anything else like it in the world, and that makes the festival different already. There are great performance art festivals, like Performa in New York is an inspiration, but it can never be exactly like that, because it’s a different set up and structure. And the heart of it is classical music and visual art, but not every program contains music. There are other festivals that are very interesting, and I look at them for inspiration, but Dallas is so significantly different than any other city in the world.
So you’re really hoping for it be a festival about Dallas?
Yes, absolutely. I feel very strongly about producing work in Dallas that we then send out into the world.
Tell me a bit about where the theme comes from.
The theme is “Destination (America)” with America in parentheses and it’s about America and Europe, the old world versus the new world, and destination and belonging, and traveling a bit. You can stretch that theme quite a bit and all the different projects within the festival are so diverse. I really wanted to curate a program that’s interesting for people from different backgrounds.
It also seems like the theme might be a little personal for you.
Yes, it is. And also for my father who came to America when he was 16, he went to Juiliard on a scholarship, and then moved back to Amsterdam afterward. When he got the job in Dallas it was basically for him coming back to America.
Do you call Dallas home?
I do now. I lived here for the first time in 2009 when I interned for the Dallas Museum of Art, and then I went home to finish my thesis, which I wrote as a comparison between the American museum system and the Dutch museum system and the role of the collector and the patron. I came back and worked on MTV: Redefine, and I had made a lot of good friends. I moved to New York to do the art and business program at Sotheby’s, because I wanted to be in New York for a year. But I always stayed in touch with people here, and I love the mentality and openness of people here. Every time the plane lands in Dallas, I feel home here. That can do mentality rubs on you, I got that can do bug from Dallas. People really want to make Dallas better and greater, and that’s what I love.
Do you have a favorite art form?
I’ve always been interested in performance and video art, that’s my love. I studied film for a few years. You can see a painting, and sometimes it stays with you forever, but if you see a performance you remember it forever. There’s a lot out there I’m excited about.
With a dad like yours, did you ever study classical music?
I never did. I was always more interested in visual art, and painting. But I think classical music is so important for everyone to have in their life. Music is such a beautiful thing. I feel very strongly about getting that to a younger audience.
100 Creatives:
100. Theater Mastermind Matt Posey
99. Comedy Queen Amanda Austin
98. Deep Ellum Enterpriser Brandon Castillo
97. Humanitarian Artist Willie Baronet
96. Funny Man Paul Varghese
95. Painting Provocateur Art Peña
94. Magic Man Trigg Watson
93. Enigmatic Musician George Quartz
92. Artistic Luminary Joshua King
91. Inventive Director Rene Moreno
90. Color Mavens Marianne Newsom and Sunny Sliger
89. Literary Lion Thea Temple
88. Movie Maestro Eric Steele
87. Storytelling Dynamo Nicole Stewart
86. Collaborative Artist Ryder Richards
85. Party Planning Print maker Raymond Butler
84. Avant-gardist Publisher Javier Valadez
83. Movie Nerd James Wallace
82. Artistic Tastemakers Elissa & Erin Stafford
81. Pioneering Arts Advocates Mark Lowry & Michael Warner
80. Imaginative Director Jeremy Bartel
79. Behind-the-Scenes Teacher Rachel Hull
78. Kaleidoscopic Artist Taylor “Effin” Cleveland
77. Filmmaker & Environmentalist Michael Cain
76. Music Activist Salim Nourallah
75. Underground Entrepreneur Daniel Yanez
74. Original Talent Celia Eberle
73. Comic Artist Aaron Aryanpur
72. Classical Thespian Raphael Parry
71. Dance Captain Valerie Shelton Tabor
70. Underground Culture Mainstay Karen X. Minzer
69. Effervescent Gallerist Brandy Michele Adams
68. Birthday Party Enthusiast Paige Chenault
67. Community Architect Monica Diodati
66. Intrepid Publisher Will Evans
65. Writerly Wit Noa Gavin
64. Maverick Artist Roberto Munguia
63. Fresh Perspective Kelsey Leigh Ervi
62. Virtuosic Violinist Nathan Olson
61. Open Classical’s Dynamic Duo Mark Landson & Patricia Yakesch
60. Rising Talent Michelle Rawlings
59. Adventurous Filmmaker Toby Halbrooks
58. Man of Mystery Edward Ruiz
57. Inquisitive Sculptor Val Curry
56. Offbeat Intellect Thomas Riccio
55. Doers and Makers Shannon Driscoll & Kayli House Cusick
54. Performance Pioneer Katherine Owens
53. Experimental Filmmaker and Video Artist Mike Morris
52. Flowering Fashioner Lucy Dang
51. Insightful Artist Stephen Lapthisophon
50. Dallas Arts District
49. Farmer’s Market Localvore Sarah Perry
48. Technological Painter John Pomara
47. Progressive Playmakers Christopher Carlos & Tina Parker
46. Purposive Chef Chad Houser
45. Absorbing Artist Jeff Gibbons
44. Artistic Integrator Erica Felicella
43. Multi-talented Director Tre Garrett
42. Anachronistic Musician Matt Tolentino
41. Emerging Veteran Actor Van Quattro
