Event Season: 2020-2021

The DSO Is Going Digital!

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!

2021 Digital Season

We invite you to join us and enjoy the magic of the Delaware Symphony Orchestra from the comfort of your living room! You can watch our Classics Series concerts presented in a digital format. With the purchase of a ticket, you and your household will have access to each performance for 30 days after the premiere date.

Our remaining Classics Series concerts will be premiering in order on the following dates:

Classics 5: May 11, 2021 (available until June 10th, 2021)

Classics 6: June 8, 2021 (available until July 8th, 2021)

 

Click below to purchase tickets.

Buy Tickets

Chamber Series Subscription

Recorded live at the DuPont Country Club, our 2020 Chamber Series will be available in its entirety in a digital format! Purchase your subscription today and get access to three intimate concert experience which you can enjoy from the comfort of your home.

The DSO 2020 Chamber Series will premiere in the following at noon each day:

Chamber 1: October 27, 2020

Chamber 2: November 24, 2020

Chamber 3: December 15, 2020

 

Click below to purchase a subscription.

Subscriptions 

A.I. duPont Composer’s Award

 
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/