-Thursday’s program features Haydn’s Cello Concerto No. 2 with DSO Principal Cello Wei Yu and Stravinsky’s “Dumbarton Oaks” Concerto; Friday night brings Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 and Takemitsu’s Archipelago S.
-Watch DSO Digital Concerts at dso.org every Thursday and Friday this fall
Detroit, (September 21, 2020) – The Detroit Symphony Orchestra (DSO) today announced that Tito Muñoz, music director of the Phoenix Symphony, will step in for previously scheduled conductor Matthias Pintscher to lead this week’s DSO Digital Concerts on Thursday and Friday nights at 7:30 p.m. Pintscher is unable to travel to Detroit due to quarantine rules and travel restrictions from the State of New York, related to recent international travel. The programs, which are listed below, are unchanged.
A trailblazer in the world of orchestral webcasting since 2011, the DSO launched a new streaming series, DSO Digital Concerts, on September 10, available exclusively on dso.org to view both live and on-demand for two weeks. Subscribers and select donors will receive access to all DSO Digital Concerts, with individual tickets available for $12. DSO Replay—the orchestra’s archive of past seasons’ webcasts—will remain free for all at dso.org/replay.
For a full schedule of DSO Digital Concerts, visit dso.org/fall2020.
DSO Digital Concerts: Classical Series Week 3
Tito Muñoz, conductor
Wei Yu, cello
Program A (Thursday, September 24 at 7:30 p.m.)
WEI YU PLAYS HAYDN
HAYDN: Cello Concerto No. 2 in D major (Wei Yu, cello)
STRAVINSKY: Concerto for Chamber Orchestra, "Dumbarton Oaks"
Program B (Friday, September 25 at 7:30 p.m.)
ISLANDS ON STAGE
BACH: Brandenburg Concerto No. 5, BWV 1050
TAKEMITSU: Archipelago S.
About Tito Muñoz
Praised for his versatility, technical clarity, and keen musical insight, Tito Muñoz is internationally recognized as one of the most gifted conductors on the podium today. Now in his seventh season as music director of the Phoenix Symphony, Muñoz previously served as music director of the Opéra National de Lorraine and the Orchestre symphonique et lyrique de Nancy in France. Other prior appointments include Assistant Conductor positions with The Cleveland Orchestra, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra, and the Aspen Music Festival. Since his tenure in Cleveland, Muñoz has celebrated critically acclaimed successes with the orchestra, among others stepping in for the late Pierre Boulez in 2012 and leading repeated collaborations with the Joffrey Ballet.
Muñoz has appeared with many of the most prominent orchestras in North America, including those of Atlanta, Baltimore, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Dallas, Detroit, Houston, Indianapolis, and Milwaukee, as well as the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, Orchestra of St. Luke’s, and the National Symphony Orchestra. He also maintains a strong international conducting presence, including recent and forthcoming engagements with the Frankfurt Radio Symphony, SWR Symphonieorchester, Deutsche Radio Philharmonie Saarbrücken, Mahler Chamber Orchestra, Orchestre National d’Île de France, Lausanne Chamber Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Ulster Orchestra, Danish National Chamber Orchestra, Luxembourg Philharmonic, Opéra Orchestre National Montpellier, Opéra de Rennes, Auckland Philharmonia, Sydney Symphony, and Sao Paolo State Symphony.
Born in Queens, New York, Muñoz began his musical training as a violinist in New York City public schools. He attended the LaGuardia High School of the Performing Arts, the Juilliard School’s Music Advancement Program, and the Manhattan School of Music Pre-College Division. He furthered his training at Queens College (CUNY) as a violin student of Daniel Phillips. Muñoz received conducting training at the American Academy of Conducting at Aspen where he studied with David Zinman and Murry Sidlin. He is the winner of the Aspen Music Festival’s 2005 Robert J. Harth Conductor Prize and the 2006 Aspen Conducting Prize, returning to Aspen as the festival’s Assistant Conductor in the summer of 2007, and later as a guest conductor.
Muñoz made his professional conducting debut in 2006 with the National Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center, invited by Leonard Slatkin as a participant of the National Conducting Institute. That same year, he made his Cleveland Orchestra debut at the Blossom Music Festival. He was awarded the 2009 Mendelssohn Scholarship sponsored by Kurt Masur and the Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy Foundation in Leipzig, and was a prizewinner in the 2010 Sir Georg Solti International Conducting Competition in Frankfurt.
About the DSO
The most accessible orchestra on the planet, 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. As a community-supported orchestra, generous giving by individuals and institutions at all levels drives the continued success and growth of the organization. In January 2020, Italian conductor Jader Bignamini was named the DSO’s next music director to commence with the 2020-2021 season. Conductor Leonard Slatkin, who concluded a decade-long tenure at the helm in 2018, now serves as the DSO’s Music Director Laureate, endowed by the Kresge Foundation. Celebrated conductor, arranger, and trumpeter Jeff Tyzik is the orchestra’s Principal Pops Conductor, while the outstanding trumpeter and composer Terence Blanchard holds the Fred A. and Barbara M. Erb Jazz Creative Director Chair. Making its home at historic Orchestra Hall within the Max M. and Marjorie S. Fisher Music Center, the DSO offers a performance schedule that features Classical, PNC Pops, Paradise Jazz, and Young People’s Family Concert series. One of the world’s most acoustically perfect concert halls, Orchestra Hall celebrates its centennial in 2019-2020. In addition, the DSO presents the William Davidson Neighborhood Concert Series in eight metro area venues, as well as a robust schedule of eclectic multi-genre performances in its mid-size venue The Cube, constructed and curated with support from Peter D. & Julie F. Cummings. A dedication to broadcast innovation began in 1922, when the DSO became the first orchestra in the world to present a radio broadcast and continues today with the free Live from Orchestra Hall webcast series, which also reaches tens of thousands of children with the Classroom Edition expansion. With growing attendance and unwavering philanthropic support from the people of Detroit, the DSO actively pursues a mission to embrace and inspire individuals, families, and communities through unsurpassed musical experiences.