In a stunning conclusion on June 8, the three finalists of the 2019 Cliburn Junior Competition performed full concertos with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Ruth Reinhardt at the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center.
DALLAS SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
The Dallas Symphony Orchestra presents the finest in orchestral music at the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center, regarded as one of the world’s premier concert halls. As the largest performing arts organization in the Southwest, the DSO is committed to inspiring the broadest possible audience with distinctive classical programs, inventive pops concerts, and innovative multi-media presentations. In fulfilling its commitment to the community, the orchestra reaches more than 230,000 adults and children through performances, educational programs, and community outreach initiatives. The DSO’s involvement with the City of Dallas and the surrounding region includes an award-winning multi-faceted educational program, community projects, popular parks concerts, and youth programming. The DSO has a tradition dating back to 1900, and it is a cornerstone of the unique, 68 acre Arts District in downtown Dallas that is home to multiple performing arts venues, museums, and parks; the largest district of its kind in the nation. The DSO is supported, in part, by funds from the Office of Cultural Affairs, City of Dallas.
RUTH REINHARDT
Ruth Reinhardt is assistant conductor of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra (DSO), where she gave her critically-acclaimed subscription debut in 2016, stepping in to replace Stanislaw Skrowaczewski on short notice in a concert selected by the Dallas Morning News as one of the year’s highlights. With the DSO, Ms. Reinhardt conducts a wide variety of the orchestra’s extensive concerts and programs, including its contemporary alternative ReMix series and regular subscription concerts for “DSO on the Go” programs performed in neighboring cities and communities, as well as performances during DSO’s innovative Soluna Festival.
Ms. Reinhardt is a Dudamel Fellow of the Los Angeles Philharmonic for the 2017–2018 season. She has recently guest conducted the Cleveland Orchestra, Indianapolis Symphony, San Diego Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Malmö Symphony, and the Orchester Musikkollegium Winterthur in a concert televised throughout Switzerland. Upcoming engagements include the North Carolina Symphony, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra in the Primrose Viola Competition, and Dallas Symphony, as well as performances with the symphony orchestras of Fort Worth, Omaha, Orlando, Santa Fe, Sarasota, and Seattle. This summer, she makes her debut with the Stockholm Philharmonic and will serve as assistant conductor of the Lucerne Festival Academy Orchestra. In addition, she will work with Carnegie Hall’s National Youth Orchestra (NYO-USA), assisting Michael Tilson Thomas. Ms. Reinhardt was recently selected as one of three active participants in the annual master class of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, this year given by Daniele Gatti.
Born in Saarbrücken, Germany, Ruth Reinhardt began studying violin at an early age and sang in the children’s chorus of Saarländisches Staatstheater, Saarbrücken’s opera company. She attended Zurich’s University of the Arts (Zürcher Hochschule der Künste) to study violin with Rudolf Koelman, and began conducting studies with Constantin Trinks, with additional training under Johannes Schlaefli and Ulrich Windfuhr. In Zurich she had the opportunity to participate in conducting master classes with, among others, Bernard Haitink, Michael Tilson Thomas, David Zinman, Paavo Järvi, Neeme Järvi, Marin Alsop, and James Ross. Post-university, she studied with Alan Gilbert at The Juilliard School, where she received her master’s degree in conducting.
Prior to her appointment in Dallas,Ms. Reinhardt was a conducting fellow at the Seattle Symphony (2015–2016), Boston Symphony Orchestra’s Tanglewood Music Center (2015), and an associate conducting fellow of Marin Alsop’s Taki Concordia program (2015). During her time at Juilliard, she led the Juilliard Orchestra as well as concerts with New York City’s ÆON Ensemble, with whom she has led a collaboration with the Kronos Quartet.
A precocious talent, by age 17 she had already composed and conducted an opera—for and performed by the children and youth of her hometown. While studying in Zurich, she also conducted the premieres of two chamber operas for children: Die Kleine Meerjungfrau (The Little Mermaid) by Swiss composer Michal Muggli, and Wassilissa by German composer Dennis Bäsecke. Other opera productions she has conducted include Dvorák’s Rusalka and Weber’s Der Freischütz for the North Czech Opera Company, and Strauss’ Die Fledermaus at the Leipzig University of the Arts.