Inspired by Detroit artist Judy Bowman’s collage work and Wynton Marsalis’s Blues Symphony
Free and open to the public, RSVP at dso.org
Detroit, (September 8, 2025) – This Saturday, the Detroit Symphony Orchestra (DSO) is excited to participate in the 2025 Detroit Month of Design. Throughout the month, Detroit will be the hub for creatives, innovators, and visionaries from around the world, showcasing the creativity and innovation that makes Detroit a UNESCO City of Design.
On September 13 at 2 p.m., the Max. M and Marjorie S. Fisher Music Center will host Chromesthesia: Creating Sound and Color in Art and Music. The family-friendly event will center around a hands-on collage workshop in collaboration with artist Judy Bowman and graphic designer Jay Holladay, the DSO's own Brand Graphic Designer. Inspired by Bowman's design for the DSO’s Blues Symphony album cover, the workshop invites guests to contribute to a large-scale collage that captures sound in visual art similarly to how musicians create color in music. Excerpts from Blues Symphony will be played throughout the workshop for artistic and aural inspiration. The workshop also emphasizes sustainability in design, using sustainable fabrics, recycled papers, and found objects donated by local partners including Arts & Scraps, Hope for Flowers, and Third Man Records.
Ahead of the collage-making workshop, DSO musicians will lead a conversation and live demonstration on how color is created in music. The event will also feature an instrument try-out station in partnership with Detroit Harmony.
Chromesthesia: Creating Sound and Color in Art and Music is free and open to the public. RSVP now at dso.org.
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About the DSO
The acclaimed Detroit Symphony Orchestra is known for trailblazing performances, collaborations with the world’s foremost musical artists, and a deep connection to its city. Led by Music Director Jader Bignamini since 2020, the DSO makes its home at historic Orchestra Hall within the Max M. and Marjorie S. Fisher Music Center, offering a robust performance schedule that features classical, pops, jazz, and family concerts, plus community performances. Enrico Lopez-Yañez was named Principal Pops Conductor in 2023, trumpeter and composer Terence Blanchard serves as the orchestra’s Fred A. Erb Jazz Creative Director Chair, and Tabita Berglund began her tenure as Principal Guest Conductor in the 2024–25 season. A dedication to broadcast innovation and technology began in 1922, when the DSO became the first orchestra in the world to present a live radio broadcast of a concert and continues today with the groundbreaking Live from Orchestra Hall series of free webcasts.
The DSO’s distinguished history of recordings—many led by its renowned music directors—spans nearly a century, beginning with the orchestra’s first 78 rpm singles with Ossip Gabrilowitsch released on the Victrola label in 1928. A steady recording output has continued since then, with highlights including more than 20 releases with Paul Paray for Mercury’s Living Presence series, and 27 under the baton of Neeme Järvi, mostly on the Chandos label. In the 1970s, the DSO took part in the historic Black Composers Series for Columbia Records led by its then-Associate Conductor Paul Freeman and later made several acclaimed recordings with Antal Doráti for the Decca label. More recently, under the direction of Leonard Slatkin, the DSO recorded music by Rachmaninoff, Copland, and John Williams for the Naxos label, earning its first GRAMMY® nomination in 2017 for Copland’s Third Symphony / Three Latin American Sketches. The first recording with Jader Bignamini, of Wynton Marsalis’s Blues Symphony, was released in March 2025 on the Pentatone label.
Since its first school concerts a century ago, and particularly since the founding of the Civic Youth Ensembles in 1970, the DSO has been a national leader in bringing the benefits of music education to students, teachers, and families in Detroit and surrounding communities. The DSO remains committed to expanding its participation in the growth and well-being of Detroit through programs like its Detroit Neighborhood Initiative—cultural events co-created with community partners and residents—and Detroit Harmony, a promise to provide an instrument and instruction to any student in the city who wants to learn. With unwavering support from the people of Detroit, the DSO actively pursues a mission to impact lives through the power of unforgettable musical experiences.