Event Season: 2020-2021

We are truly excited to announce important changes for this coming season’s programming and format. The 2020-2021 DSO season is going digital!

Throughout this pandemic, we have been working diligently to develop a plan that would give both patrons and musicians with safest way to proceed with the season. That critical consideration, coupled with the suspension of activities at The Grand Opera House for the foreseeable future, has led us to re-think how we will bring the sights and sounds of the DSO to you in the coming months. Embracing this challenge, we are pleased to announce our re-imagined 2020-2021 season!

This season, our concerts will be recorded live and then be offered to our subscribers online. This digital format will incorporate state of the art audio and video production, and it allows all of us the freedom of listening to – and viewing – the Delaware Symphony in the comfort and safety of our homes.

The repertoire for these productions is a wealth of musical riches to create a season of orchestral delights. Programs will include symphonies by Haydn, Mendelssohn, Beethoven and Schubert, as well as Aaron Copland’s stunning suite from the ballet Appalachian Spring, Tchaikovsky’s Serenade for Strings, and Stravinsky’s Pulcinella. In addition, we will bring you shorter works by important American composers like Ruth Crawford Seeger, George Walker, and Alfred I. du Pont winner Claude Baker.

We are confident that you will enjoy the intimacy, safety, and freedom that this format will provide. Each presentation will include special introductions by Music Director David Amado, as well as up close and personal viewing of our amazing musicians doing what they do best.

We want to thank you for your support and patience as we’ve gone through this planning process. Our resiliency and ability to shift to this new model for the coming season proves again that the DSO is devoted to bringing the best to you, our loyal patrons. We need you now more than ever, and your confidence in us means everything!

All of us at the DSO look forward to once again making music!

To see our revised season schedule and repertoire, click here!

 

Alfred I. duPont	Claude Baker, 2020-2021 A. I. duPont Award Winner

 

About the Award

Alfred I. duPont (1864-1935) was a remarkable man. He was a businessman, musician, an inventor, a communicator, and a philanthropist. Of all his accomplishments, one of the greatest is evident today in the Delaware Symphony Orchestra.

Mr. duPont had a great passion for music. He played four instruments and took great pleasure in composing music, mostly marches. His infectious enthusiasm enabled him to gather enough musicians to form an orchestra in Wilmington, which he rehearsed and conducted. At first, the group was referred to as “Al’s Band,” since there were few strings and the men marched in parades on national holidays. Mr. duPont, however, always referred to his ensemble as an orchestra.

In time, the group was dubbed the “Tankopanicum Orchestra” by Mr. duPont and was considered the most popular musical organization in Wilmington at the turn of the twentieth century. The word “Tankopanicum” is a traditional Native American name associated with the Brandywine Creek. It means “rushing waters of the Brandywine” and refers to the gorge that runs from the Bancroft Mill up to Rockland.

The first rehearsals were held in the DuPont Company’s machine shop. When a piano was needed, the musicians gathered in the parlor of the duPont family residence, Swamp Hall. By 1904, rehearsals were being held in the Hagley Community House at the foot of Breck’s Lane.

The orchestra was composed of many of the duPont powder mill workers as well as other local citizens. Some of the early members included the superintendent of a cotton mill, a family doctor, a millwright apprentice, a blacksmith, a machinist, a hardware store worker, and many members of the duPont family. Mr. duPont conducted and played first violin, clarinet, cornet, or the piano, depending on what was needed.

Mr. duPont continued with the “Tankopanicum Orchestra” until his hearing loss forced him to stop. The orchestra gradually changed and grew over the years, becoming “The Wilmington Orchestra,” “The Wilmington Symphony Club,” “The Wilmington Symphony Orchestra,” and finally, “The Delaware Symphony Orchestra.”

The A. I. duPont Composer’s Award is made possible by the Alfred I. duPont Foundation. It was instituted in 1985 by the DSO to honor him. This award recognizes a distinguished living American composer or conductor who has made a significant contribution in the field of contemporary classical music. Past winners are among the most celebrated composers of recent history, including Morton Gould, John Adams, Robert Ward, Phillip Glass, George Crumb, Libby Larsen, Jennifer Higdon, Aaron Jay Kernis, Kevin Puts, Christopher Theofanidis, and Andre Previn.

 

DSO Season	Winner	Links
1985-1986	William Howard Schuman (1910-1992)	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Schuman
1986-1987	George Rochberg (1918-2005)	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Rochberg
1987-1988	Morton Gould (1913-1996)	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morton_Gould
1988-1989	John Corigliano (b. 1938)	http://www.johncorigliano.com/
1989-1990	John Adams (b. 1947)	https://www.earbox.com/
1990-1991	Ellen Zwilich (b. 1939)	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ellen_Taaffe_Zwilich
1991-1992	Stephen Albert (1941-1992)	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Albert
1992-1993	David Diamond (1915-2005)	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Diamond_(composer)
1993-1994	William Bolcom (b. 1938)	https://williambolcom.com/
1994-1995	Robert Ward (1917-2013)	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Ward_(composer)
1995-1996	Joseph Schwantner (b. 1943)	http://www.schwantner.net/
1996-1997	Stephen Paulus (1949-2014)	https://stephenpaulus.com/
1997-1998	Joan Tower (b. 1938)	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joan_Tower
1998-1999	Lukas Foss (1922-2009)	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lukas_Foss
1999-2000	Richard Wernick (b. 1934)	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Wernick
2000-2001	Christopher Rouse (1949-2019)	http://www.christopherrouse.com/
2001-2002	George Walker (1922-2018)	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Walker_(composer)
2002-2003	Steve Reich (b.1936)	http://www.stevereich.com/
2003-2004	David Lang (b. 1957)	https://davidlangmusic.com/
2004-2005	Michael Torke (b. 1961)	https://www.michaeltorke.com/
2005-2006	Gunther Schuller (1925-2015)	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gunther_Schuller
2006-2007	Michael Daughterty (b. 1954)	http://www.michaeldaugherty.net/
2007-2008	Elliott Carter (1908-2012)	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elliott_Carter
2008-2009	Phillip Glass (b. 1937)	https://philipglass.com/
2009-2010	George Crumb (b. 1929)	http://www.georgecrumb.net/
2010-2011	Libby Larsen (b. 1950)	https://libbylarsen.com/
2011-2012	Jennifer Higdon (b. 1962)	http://www.jenniferhigdon.com/
2012-2013 Presented 2014	Aaron Jay Kernis (b. 1960)	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aaron_Jay_Kernis
2014-15	Kevin Puts (b. 1972)	http://www.kevinputs.com/
2015-2016	Christopher Theofanidis	http://www.theofanidismusic.com/
2016-2017	André Previn (1929-2019)	http://www.andre-previn.com/
2017-2018	David Ludwig	http://www.davidludwigmusic.com/
2018-2019	Robert Paterson	http://robertpaterson.com
2019-2020	Missy Mazzoli	http://www.missymazzoli.com/
2020-2021	Claude Baker	https://bakerwc.pages.iu.edu/