Detroit Symphony Orchestra offers new, live DSO Digital Concerts through June on the Classical, PNC Pops, CUBE | Digital, and Family series
DSO Music Director Jader Bignamini [pictured] returns plus guest conductors and soloists including Principal Pops Conductor Jeff Tyzik, Music Director Laureate Leonard Slatkin, Kent Nagano, Midori, James Conlon, Baiba Skride, James Ehnes, Domingo Hindoyan, Dmitry Sinkovsky, Wynton Marsalis, Orli Shaham, William Eddins, Byron Stripling, and Louis Lortie
Classical Series includes music by Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Mozart, Still, Tania León, Daniel Bernard Roumain, and Jennifer Higdon and premieres by Roberto Sierra, Veronika Krausas, and Sebastian Fagerlund
Annual Classical Roots Celebration returns virtually to highlight African American contributions to classical musicfeaturing performances by the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra Septet with Wynton Marsalis
Detroit (December 3, 2020) – In 2021, the Detroit Symphony Orchestra (DSO) will continue its innovative DSO Digital Concerts with an extensive lineup of Classical, PNC Pops, CUBE | Digital, and Young People’s Family Concert performances streamed live from Orchestra Hall.
The orchestra’s slate of upcoming concerts will be live streamed without audiences through June 2021. Each concert will offer 30 to 45 minutes of music and is innovatively programmed with health and safety considerations of performers in mind and to maximize enjoyment on computers, mobile devices, and smart TVs. A new 360-square-foot extension to the Orchestra Hall stage will allow the DSO to offer expanded repertoire by featuring a greater number of socially distanced musicians.
DSO Digital Concerts are available exclusively on dso.org to view both live and on-demand for two weeks following the original performance. Subscribers and select donors receive access to all DSO Digital Concerts, with individual tickets available for purchase. DSO Replay—the orchestra’s archive of past webcasts—remains remain free for all.
Introduced to audiences as the orchestra’s music director in January 2020, Jader Bignamini will return on May 7-8 and May 20-21 to conduct four programs including performances by violinist Midori and pianist Orli Shaham.
The Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra Septet with Wynton Marsalis will perform with the orchestra on March 6 in the DSO’s annual Classical Roots Celebration highlighting African American contributions to classical music. The concert will feature music by Marsalis, Stravinsky, and Bernstein. Performing as a septet with Marsalis, musicians from the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra will also perform their own program the preceding evening as part of the DSO’s Paradise Jazz Series.
On the Classical Series, upcoming highlights include appearances by DSO Music Director Laureate Leonard Slatkin; conductors Hannu Lintu, John Storgårds, Domingo Hindoyan, James Conlon, and Kent Nagano; violinist James Ehnes in programs of Bach, Brahms, and Sibelius; and conductor, violinist, and countertenor Dimitry Sinkovsky in music by Handel, Vivaldi, Beethoven, and Mozart. Other soloists include violinists Baiba Skride and Kimberley Kaloyanides Kennedy (DSO Acting Concertmaster), violists Eric Nowlin (Principal Viola) and James VanValkenburg (Assistant Principal Viola), and pianists Louis Lortie and Till Fellner.
In addition to orchestral and chamber music by Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Mozart, Saint-Georges, Still, Tania León, Daniel Bernard Roumain, and Jennifer Higdon, there will be performances of new works by Roberto Sierra, Veronika Krausas, and Sebastian Fagerlund.
The DSO will also present five weeks of PNC Pops Series programming, with special guests including DSO Principal Pops Conductor Jeff Tyzik, conductors Stuart Chafetz and Andy Einhorn, vocalist Shayna Steele, trumpeter/vocalist Byron Stripling, and more. Young People’s Family Concert programming will include a program of kid-friendly film music on January 9 and Peter and the Wolf on May 15. Additional family programming will be announced in the future. See below for current Digital Concert listings through June 2021.
The DSO will also continue to present CUBE | Digital performances streamed from the Peter D. and Julie F. Cummings Cube and Orchestra Hall in the Max. M. and Marjorie S. Fisher Music Center. The Cube is Midtown Detroit’s hub for Curated, Urban, Boundless Experiences, presenting eclectic, multi-genre performances and events. Upcoming highlights include the Jazz From Detroit Virtual Winter Festival hosted by Mark Stryker featuring performances by Marcus Elliot & Michael Malis Duo, Robert Hurst III and Black Current Jam, Charles McPherson, and more on February 27.
The DSO has kept the music playing in 2020 with over 16,000 views of DSO Digital Concerts since September. Through innovations such as a comprehensive testing partnership with Henry Ford Health System and now an extended stage in Orchestra Hall, the DSO can safely continue to present live music every week during the 2020-2021 concert season. DSO Digital Concerts have been acclaimed in the national press, with The New Yorker saying, “The DSO leads the pack in presenting concerts online,” and “… Detroit is dominating American musical life at the moment…” and The New York Times saying, “Take your pick among the Detroit Symphony Orchestra’s well-balanced programs … there’s not an uninteresting concert in sight.”
In the future, a limited number of tickets may be available for in-person attendance for concerts at the Max M. and Marjorie S. Fisher Music Center in accordance with State of Michigan public health and safety guidelines. When it is safe to welcome back limited audiences, subscribers and donors will receive priority access to reserve these tickets.
The DSO Classical Series is generously sponsored by PVS Chemicals, Inc. The title sponsor of the DSO’s PNC Pops Series is PNC Bank. The Young People’s Family Concert Series is sponsored by Sun Communities. The Paradise Jazz Series is made possible with support from TCF Bank and MGM Grand Detroit.
Visit dso.org/digitalconcerts in the coming weeks for more information.