Dallas Symphony extends Gemma New’s Principal Guest Conductor contract through 2022/23 Season
Gemma New renews her contract with Dallas Symphony Orchestra as Principal Guest Conductor for the 2022/23 Season (Photo credit: Robert W. Hart)
For Immediate Release
DALLAS, TX (December 17, 2021) — The Dallas Symphony Orchestra (DSO) and Music Director Fabio Luisi (Louise W. & Edmund J. Kahn Music Directorship) announce the extension of the contracts of Principal Guest Conductor Gemma New (Marena & Roger Gault Chair) and Composer-in-Residence Angélica Negrón.
Gemma New will continue her role as Principal Guest Conductor through the 2022/23 season. She began her position with the DSO in the 2019/20 concert season. New debuted with the orchestra in November 2019, and she participated in the inaugural Women in Classical Music Symposium. She conducted the world premieres of Steven Mackey’s Timpani Concerto featuring Principal Timpani Brian Jones (Dr. Eugene & Charlotte Bonelli Chair) and Kareem Roustrom’s Violin Concerto No. 2 “with might and main” featuring Principal Second Violin Angela Fuller Heyde (Barbara K. & Seymour R. Thum Chair) as well as appearances in the Texas Instruments Classical Series as well as the annual New Year’s Eve Concert. In the 2022/23 season, she will conduct the world premiere of American composer Katherine Balch’s cello concerto written for cellist Zlatomir Fung.
“I am grateful to continue this position with the DSO, and thrilled that we are returning to full orchestra performances,” said New. “It has been a joy getting to know these incredible musicians, and I am looking forward to more time to work together at the Meyerson.”
Sought after for her insightful interpretations and dynamic presence, New Zealand-born Gemma New is also Music Director of the Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra. Hailed by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch as “a rising star in the musical firmament”, New is the recipient of the prestigious 2021 Sir George Solti Conducting Award. She recently made debuts with the Baltimore Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, Hallé Orchestra, BBC Philharmonic and Basque National Orchestra of Spain, and led the New York Philharmonic’s 29th Annual Memorial Day Concert at St. John the Divine. Forthcoming appearances include National Symphony Orchestra Washington, Minnesota Orchestra, Los Angeles Opera, WDR Symphonieorchester, Orchestre National d’Ile de France, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Sydney Symphony and New Zealand Symphony.
New recently guested with the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra following the completion of her four-year tenure as SLSO Resident Conductor and Music Director of the St. Louis Symphony Youth Orchestra. She is a former Dudamel Conducting Fellow with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and former Conducting Fellow at Tanglewood Music Center, and she served previously as Associate Conductor of the New Jersey Symphony. Prior to receiving the 2021 Sir Georg Solti Conducting Award, she was awarded Solti Foundation Career Assistance Awards in 2017, 2019 and 2020.
Composer-in-Residence Angélica Negrón will continue her role with the DSO through the 2022/23 season. Negrón recently participated in the 2022 Women in Classical Music Symposium both presenting a session on Composing for the Future as well as curating a chamber music concert of all female composers. The DSO gave the world premiere of her orchestral work En otra noche, en otro mundo in January 2021 under the direction of Music Director Fabio Luisi. The performance was chosen as a “Concert to Watch” by The New York Times.
“I am thankful for the opportunity to continue my relationship with the DSO,” said Negrón. “Fabio Luisi and the musicians were wonderful to work with in bringing En otra noche, en otro mundo to life, and I enjoyed collaborating with the DSO musicians on this year’s chamber music performance at the Women in Classical Music Symposium. I look forward to working with Gemma for her first program of the 2022/23 season, along with hearing this great orchestra perform another new work of mine with Maestro Luisi conducting”, The DSO will present the world premiere of a new work by Negrón,commissioned by the DSO and generously supported by the Don and Norma Stone Fund, in May 2023.
Puerto Rican-born composer and multi-instrumentalist Angélica Negrón writes music for accordions, robotic instruments, toys, and electronics as well as for chamber ensembles, orchestras, choir, and film. Her music has been described as “wistfully idiosyncratic and contemplative” (WQXR/Q2) while The New York Times noted her “capacity to surprise.” Negrón has been commissioned by the Bang on a Can All-Stars, Kronos Quartet, loadbang, Prototype Festival, Brooklyn Youth Chorus, Sō Percussion, National Symphony Orchestra, Opera Philadelphia, and the New York Botanical Garden, among others.
Angélica received an early education in piano and violin at the Conservatory of Music of Puerto Rico where she later studied composition under the guidance of composer Alfonso Fuentes. She holds a master’s degree in music composition from New York University where she studied with Pedro da Silva and pursued doctoral studies at The Graduate Center (CUNY), where she studied composition with Tania León. Also active as an educator, Angélica is currently a teaching artist for New York Philharmonic’s Very Young Composers program. She has collaborated with artists like Sō Percussion, Lido Pimienta, Mathew Placek, Sasha Velour, Cecilia Aldarondo, Mariela Pabón, Adrienne Westwood, Tiffany Mills and has written music for films, theater and modern dance. She was recently an Artist-in-Residence at WNYC’s The Greene Space working on El Living Room, a 4-part offbeat variety show and playful multimedia exploration of sound and story, of personal history and belonging. Upcoming premieres include works for the Seattle Symphony, LA Philharmonic, Louisville Orchestra and NY Philharmonic Project 19 initiative and multiple performances at Big Ears Festival 2022.
“The DSO is proud extend the contracts of these two talented artists,” said Kim Noltemy, Ross Perot President & CEO of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra. “I am looking forward to their partnership on programming at the start of the season and to watch their relationship with the orchestra grow.”