About DSO:
Dallas Symphony Orchestra Fun Facts
The Dallas Symphony was founded in 1900, and is the sixth oldest orchestra in the United States.
The number of musicians in the Dallas Symphony is 89. Of the 89, 34 (38%) are women and 55 (62%) are men.
How many of each instrument are present in the orchestra?
Strings:
26 violins
11 violas
10 cellos
8 basses
1 harp
Woodwinds:
3 flutes
4 oboes
4 clarinets
3 bassoons
Brass:
6 horns
4 trumpets
3 trombones
1 tuba
Percussion:
1 timpani
3 percussion
1 keyboard
The Dallas Symphony presents free concerts for families through the Parks Concerts and Festival Concerts Series. Watch the newspaper entertainment section for announcements of concert dates and locations. Plan to attend with your family!
Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center Facts
Date of opening: September 6, 1989
Owner: City of Dallas
Cost: $81.5 million. The citizens of Dallas voted to support the project through bond issues that raised just under one-half of the total cost. The rest of the money, nearly $43 million, was raised from private donations by the Dallas Symphony.
Architect (the person who designed the building): Mr. I. M. Pei
Acoustician (the person who told the architect how to build the concert hall for the best musical sound): Mr. Russell Johnson
The lobby: Bright and open, a place for people to gather
Lobby building materials: Marble, limestone and glass
The concert hall: Warm and comfortable, high quality musical sound
Concert hall building materials: Marble, limestone and wood
In the concert hall, Mr. Pei and Mr. Johnson had to work very closely together. Here are some of the decisions they had to make.
Room shape: Mr. Johnson knew a rectangle or shoe box shape would be the best for sound, so Mr. Pei took the shape and rounded one end into a horseshoe shape so audience members would have a better view of the stage.
Room size: If it were too big, the sound would not be as good. If it were too small, then not enough people could attend concerts. The result was a concert hall that seats about 2,050.
Building materials: Mr. Pei wanted to use carpet, but Mr. Johnson pointed out that carpet would muffle the sound in the room.
The Meyerson is a concert hall for all the citizens of Dallas. In addition to orchestra concerts, programs from churches, schools and touring artists from around the world have been held in the Meyerson.