Nasher Sculpture Center

DALLAS, Texas (April 1, 2009) – The Nasher Sculpture Center is excited to welcome Dallas Symphony Orchestra Music Director Jaap van Zweden as the featured guest at the April 29 NasherSALON Lecture Series. The Salon will take place at 8 pm in Nasher Hall. Doors open one hour in advance. Tickets are $45 for Members and $60 for non-Members for the evening Salon and are available for purchase on-line at NasherSalonSeries.org or by calling 888.695.0888.

 

Born in the Netherlands in 1960, Jaap van Zweden began his musical career studying violin at the Amsterdam Conservatory, and was accepted into The Juilliard School at age 16 to study under Dorothy DeLay. At 19, he joined the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra as concertmaster, and remained there for 16 years. In 1994, he began conducting part-time, and continued to perform as violinist with several orchestras in the Netherlands.

 

In 1997, he made the decision to conduct full time, performed his last concert as a violinist, and accepted the position of chief conductor of the Netherlands Symphony Orchestra. He remained in that position until 2003. From 2000-2005, he also held the position of music director at the Residentie Orchestra of The Hague.

 

Van Zweden has been a frequent guest conductor of many distinguished orchestras in Europe, Asia and Australia, including the Orchestre National de France; Munich, Tokyo and Hong Kong Philharmonics; England's London Philharmonic, Academy of St.-Martin-in-the-Fields and City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra; and the Danish Radio Orchestra, among others. Most recently, van Zweden led the Chicago Symphony Orchestra to great critical acclaim (October 2008 and March 2009), and will make his debut with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Cleveland Orchestra and Philadelphia Orchestra in the 2009-2010 season.

 

A prolific recording artist, van Zweden has recorded all of the Beethoven symphonies with the Residentie Orchestra of The Hague for Philips, and is in the process of recording for Octavia all of the Bruckner symphonies with the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, of which numbers 4, 5, 7 and 9 have been completed. In addition to his music directorship with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, which began in September of 2008, he retains his position as music director of the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra and Kamer Filharmonie (2005-2013).

 

Before his appointment as conductor of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, van Zweden appeared as a guest conductor with the DSO in February of 2006, as part of the Texas Instruments Classical Series. He won over the musicians, search committee, critics and audiences with his masterful interpretation of music by Brahms, Ravel and Wagenaar. He was announced as the DSO’s new music director one year later, and has continued to impress critics from around the globe with his masterful interpretations of some of the greatest music ever written.

 

Douglas Adams, president of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, said, “In less than one season, Jaap’s leadership has fine-tuned this team of incredible musicians into something magical. The Dallas Symphony Orchestra is playing at a level that has to be heard to be believed.”

 

Van Zweden and his wife, Aaltje, have four children, ranging in age from 14 to 24. As a family, they are very committed to bringing awareness and acceptance to the cause of autism. In the Netherlands, they have established the Papageno Foundation, devoted to bringing music therapy into the homes of autistic children.

 

The NasherSALON Lecture Series began in 2005 as a monthly forum held at the Nasher Sculpture Center to engage in discussions on topics relating to art in its various forms – sculpture, painting, music, and the culinary arts. The 2009 NasherSALON Lecture Series marks the fourth installment of the series. Featuring internationally renowned speakers, this year’s series provides an unmatched forum for intimate, intellectual conversation amidst the finest collection of modern and contemporary sculpture in the world.

 

NasherSalon Lecture Series Sponsors: 

American Airlines is the world's largest airline.  American, American Eagle and the AmericanConnection® airlines serve 250 cities in over 40 countries with more than 4,000 daily flights.  The combined network fleet numbers more than 1,000 aircraft. 

 

As culturally vibrant as the neighborhood in which it sits, Hotel Crescent Court, A Rosewood Hotel, is a refreshing experience of contrasts. Located within walking distance of the art, culture and energy of Dallas, the hotel consistently wins hearts and accolades as one of the best hotels in the United States. With a bold palette of colors, chic, newly renovated guestrooms, innovative New American cuisine at The Crescent Club, award winning Asian-fusion dishes from Nobu and the serenity of The Spa, Hotel Crescent Court offers discreet and professional service with Texas charm.

 

About the Nasher Sculpture Center:
Open since October 2003, the Nasher Sculpture Center is dedicated to the display and study of modern and contemporary sculpture.  The Center is located on a 2.4-acre site adjacent to the Dallas Museum of Art in the heart of the Dallas Arts District.  Renzo Piano, a world-renowned architect and winner of the prestigious Pritzker Prize in 1998, is the architect of the Center’s 55,000-square-foot building.  Piano worked in collaboration with landscape architect Peter Walker on the design of the two-acre sculpture garden.

The Nasher Sculpture Center was the longtime dream of the late Raymond and Patsy Nasher, who

together formed one of the finest collections of modern and contemporary sculpture in the world. The Raymond and Patsy Nasher Collection includes masterpieces by Calder, de Kooning, di Suvero, Giacometti, Hepworth, Kelly, Matisse, Miró, Moore, Picasso, Rodin, and Serra, among others, and continues to grow and evolve.

The Nasher Sculpture Center presents rotating exhibitions of works from the Nasher Collection as well as special exhibitions drawn from other museums and private collections.  In addition to indoor gallery space, the Center contains an auditorium, education and research facilities, a cafe, and a store.  

The Nasher Sculpture Center is open Tuesday through Sunday from 11 am to 5 pm and Thursday from 11 am to 9 pm.  General Admission to the Center is $10 for adults, $7 for seniors, $5 for students, and free for members and children 12 and under.  For more information, visit www.NasherSculptureCenter.org.

 

The Dallas Symphony Orchestra has a rich, 109-year history of artistic excellence.  After an exhaustive search, the DSO named Jaap van Zweden as music director beginning in the 2008-2009 season.  Eminent music directors such as Antal Dorati, Paul Kletzki, Georg Solti, Eduardo Mata and Andrew Litton laid the groundwork for important elements of today’s DSO, including extensive touring and recording, special community and education concerts and the building of the world-renowned Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center. 

 

As the largest performing arts organization in the Southwest, financial stability is a key element of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra’s success.  Since inception of its 10-year strategic plan in 2003, the DSO has demonstrated five consecutive years of balanced budgets. 

 

 

For more information and photos, please contact:

Kristen Mills Gibbins

Communications Manager

214.242.5177