We recently announced our 2005-2006 Texas Instruments Classical Series, the 106th season of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra. This season is a milestone filled with celebration and anticipation. In it we honor Andrew Litton's 12th and final year as music director of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra. At the same time, we continue our search for the next music director of the DSO, a critical choice as the orchestra continues to move toward the vision articulated in our strategic plan, A Bold Plan for Greatness : to reach the very highest echelon of orchestras in the music world. The season is a milestone in another very important sense. We celebrate the 250th birthday of one of the greatest geniuses in musical history: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

Of course, at the heart of all of this is great music, with astounding variety. There's no shortage of colorful "blockbusters" like Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake, Holst's The Planets, Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition, Mahler's extraordinary first and second symphonies. the list goes on. Add to that many of the great romantic piano concertos by Tchaikovsky, Chopin, Brahms and Schumann (who also has an anniversary this season). Then, there's more than a touch of the new and unusual including commissions by four outstanding composers: a new piano concerto by George Tsontakis, recent winner of the coveted Grawemeyer award for composition; a co-commission with the Philadelphia and Indianapolis symphonies of a wonderful composer, Jennifer Higdon; a new work by Texas' own Robert X. Rodriguez; and a new ballet by Jonathan Bailey Holland, a joint commission with the Dallas Black Dance Theatre. Other extraordinary and unusual additions include Tippett's monumental A Child of Our Time and Ives' radically groundbreaking and breathtaking Symphony No. 4 (which is being recorded for our third CD with Hyperion Records and features the complete symphonies of Charles Ives).

Thematic programming has recently become a hallmark of the Dallas Symphony with our Masters of the Romantic Era and Music of Nations seasons, and our highly successful Rachmaninoff Festival. That tradition continues next year when we feature a three-week festival that celebrates the timeless genius of Mozart at 250 years old! These concerts will include some of his greatest instrumental works: the last three great symphonies, several piano concertos and more, as well as a special series of Mozart Mania at the Meyerson events. For three weeks, it will be "All Mozart, All the Time".

The conducting roster has never looked better than in the 2005-2006 season. Audiences will be able to enjoy Andrew Litton in his farewell season conducting some of his favorite works including Shostakovich's Symphony No. 5, the Glagolitic Mass of Janacek and works by Tchaikovsky, Mahler, Strauss and others. And they'll get a look at some great conductors - emerging superstars like Philippe Jordan and Andrey Boreyko, along with distinguished conductors like Sir Andrew Davis, Pinchas Zukerman, Pinchas Steinberg, Carlos Kalmar, Yan Pascal Tortelier and DSO Principal Guest Conductor Claus Peter Flor. The roster of guest conductors on the Dallas Symphony podium truly reaches new heights of excellence in this season.

Finally, the DSO continues a its tradition of initiating and presenting very special collaborations including a special commission next season of a new ballet celebrating the thrill of African American music and dance, in collaboration with our outstanding neighbor in the arts district, the Dallas Black Dance Theatre. Once again, the DSO helps lead the way in creating important cultural synergies and partnerships that benefit all of Dallas . dynamic communities.

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