DALLAS SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA HOSTS A SPECIAL EVENING HONORING MAESTRO EDUARDO MATA
Beloved Former Music Director Honored as 2009-2010 Season Comes to a Close
The Dallas Symphony Orchestra will host a very special event on the evening of Thursday, May 20, 2010 in honor of the beloved former music director of the DSO, Eduardo Mata, sponsored by Bessemer Trust. This season, the Dallas Symphony celebrated the 20th anniversary of the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center, and the final concert of the 2009-2010 season has a particularly heart-warming meaning and resonance. Under the baton of Music Director Jaap van Zweden, the weekend's concert features Mahler's Symphony No. 2, Resurrection, the masterpiece selected by Maestro Eduardo Mata to open the hall in September of 1989.
To honor this special occasion, a pre-concert reception will take place on Thursday, May 20, 2010 prior to the concert to honor Eduardo Mata, who served as music director of the DSO from 1977 to 1993 and made the Meyerson Symphony Center a reality. The evening will begin at six o'clock with champagne and remarks by DSO President and CEO Doug Adams, Board member Dolores Barzune and Artistic Advisor Victor Marshall in the Main Lobby, followed by an hors d'oeuvres reception in the East Loge. Ten Young Strings violinists from the Eduardo Mata Elementary School and Young Strings violinist Bobby Gonzalez will perform during the reception, as well. Music Director Jaap van Zweden will then take the stage to lead the Dallas Symphony Orchestra and Chorus in Mahler's Resurrection Symphony in the closing weekend of the 2009-2010 Texas Instruments Classical Series.
Twenty years ago, Mata selected the Mahler Second Symphony as one of the pieces to inaugurate the Meyerson's Eugene McDermott Concert Hall; he was serving as conductor emeritus when he died in a plane crash in 1995. The intimate reception will honor Hans Kreissig Legacy Society members and 20-year Stradivarius patrons, and a plaque dedicated to Mata's tenure as music director and all that he accomplished will be unveiled that evening. In addition, Dorian has released a CD box set entitled, Dallas Symphony Orchestra: The Eduardo Mata Years, available for purchase. The newly remastered series of six CDs comprises recordings by the Dallas Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Mata, recorded between 1991 and 1993 at the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center, and features works by Prokofiev, Stravinsky, Copland, Bernstein and many more. The box set is available for purchase at the Dallas Symphony Store, located in the lower level of the Meyerson Symphony Center.
About the Dallas Symphony Orchestra
The Dallas Symphony Orchestra, under the leadership of Music Director Jaap van Zweden, presents the finest in classical and pop music, new music and family and holiday concerts at the internationally heralded Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center. As the largest performing arts organization in the Southwest, the DSO is committed to the pursuit of uncompromising musical distinction through innovative and classical programming, seeking to enlighten and inspire the broadest possible audience. In fulfilling its commitment to the community, the DSO's involvement with the City of Dallas extends to educational programs, community concerts, complimentary ticket distribution and children's programming. The DSO has grown from a 40-person ensemble to a world-class orchestra since its inception in 1900, and continues to be the cornerstone of the burgeoning Arts District in downtown Dallas; a district now noted as the largest in the nation.
