Orchestra of New Spain to Perform First Live Concert Since March
Dallasites will soon be able to get a glimpse of what live music will look like amid the coronavirus pandemic. Set to perform at Zion Lutheran Church on Friday, June 26, the Orchestra of New Spain will host the first live classical concert in Dallas since March.
The concert will require audience members to follow recommended safety protocols, including social distancing and masking, and a sanitization station will be available at the venue. Attendees will also be seated in alternating rows with lateral separation between groups.
New Spain Artistic Director Grover Wilkins said that New Spain is thrilled to return live music to the public, and the safety of attendees has been foremost in planning the concert’s execution.
“As among the first in the metroplex to take the stage — and only thanks to the initiative of local churches and the gracious hospitality and example of Zion Lutheran Church and its Pastor Robert Preece — we are absolutely assured that the physical health of our audience and their emotional well-being will be enhanced,” Wilkins said.
Conducted by Wilkins, the Summer Strings of the Orchestra’s program will feature a few items of comfort music alongside its existing baroque repertory.
“Our musicians are eager to play and look forward to an audience equally enthusiastic to listen to live classical music,” Wilkins said.
Established in the Dallas Arts District in 1989, the 36-member orchestra and chorus explores the music of the Spanish and New World Baroque. New Spain’s repertoire also includes renaissance, baroque, classical and romantic music from various periods and provenances, all played on period instruments.
New Spain, whose mission is to introduce Spanish repertory from the 17th and 18th centuries and educate the public on the importance of staging the cultural implications of its Hispanic heritage, contributes to the Dallas arts community with its eight-concert season, yearly school programs, annual Dallas ISD Strings’ Camp and national and international touring programs.
Tickets are $25, or $10 for students with school IDs, and can be purchased through www.ticketdfw.com or by phone at 214-871-5000.
