In Friday’s (5/20) Detroit Free Press, Mark Stryker writes, “Since the end of the epic six-month musicians strike in April, Detroit Symphony Orchestra officials have been sprinting—rebooting spring concerts, dropping ticket prices for the future by up to 50%, rebuilding next season and hashing out ambitious programs designed to broaden the orchestra’s reach. Much of the immediate future remains under construction, but one major edifice is being announced today: the 2011-12 classical and pops seasons at Orchestra Hall. This will be music director Leonard Slatkin’s fourth season, and what’s most interesting—and rewarding—is how consistently classical programming tracks with Slatkin’s previous agenda: Roughly 20% of the works are contemporary, nearly all of them by living composers working in America, from elder statesmen like William Bolcom and David Del Tredici to up-and-comers like Mason Bates. Nearly a third of the season represents DSO premieres. … The DSO also is planning neighborhood and community concerts, which will take the orchestra into the suburbs, and chamber music and education initiatives made possible by the new contract. While the DSO will play about a dozen fewer classical concerts at Orchestra Hall next season than previously, the overall number of classical orchestral concerts remains the same when the neighborhood events are included.”
Posted May 23, 2011
