All ears? The month of June in and around East Dallas is the perfect time to tune in to musical events. Maybe it’s cheating a little, schedule-wise, to include the eighth annual Gospel Festival May 31 at the Meyerson Symphony Center, but this free concert featuring local church choirs and singers performing gospel and spiritual music looks to be unique and refreshing. For information, call 953-1985.
Once summer begins in earnest, Sammons Jazz Center invites guests to cool off with its Jazz Main Stream Concert June 3, featuring the Karolyn Kafer Quartet and the Sammons Jazz ensemble – a jazz repertory octet led by Cal Lewiston and Vicho Vicencio. Tickets are $8. Call 330-ARTS for information.
If you love the sound of a hundred voices singing, or maybe even 50 or so, check out the Turtle Creek Chorale, joined by the Dallas Wind Symphony, performing works by Randall Thompson, Leonard Bernstein and Aaron Copeland June 6 at the Meyerson. Tickets begin at $10; call 526-3214.
Dallas Summer Musical fans should be delighted by the opening show at the Music Hall in Fair Park June 16-28. “The Secret Garden”, a musical based upon an adaptation of the children’s story, is lavishly staged. John Schneider in “Brigadoon” follows June 30-July 12. Matinee tickets start at $4 for third-balcony seats; bring your binoculars and keep an eye out for closer, empty seats to sprint for after the overture. Call 373-8000 for information.
Carlo Pezzimenti plays exquisite classical guitar and Luis Martin reads poetry in a dual performance at D-Art Visual Art Gallery June 19. Pezzimenti and Martin are attracting growing crowds for their eclectic music/reading events. For information, call 821-2522.
Beethoven, anyone? Last, but hardly least, is this stellar musical event June 30-July 25: the Dallas Symphony Association’s 1992 International Summer Music Festival, now in its third year at the Meyerson. Under the direction of principal festival conductor Pinchus Zukerman, this year’s festival celebrates Beethoven’s music and features renowned artists such as flutist James Galway, pianist Peter Frankl, cellist Ralph Kirschbaum and the Tokyo String Quartet.
In addition to the great Symphonies No. 1, 5, 8 and 9, as well as the number of piano and violin concertos, the festival includes a Gershwin tribute and works by Copeland, Bach, Schuller and Barber. All 20 concerts will be staged at the Meyerson.
Single tickets start at $15, and season tickets start at $55. Call 692-0203 for ticket information. (Just a note: The festival has sold out the past two years.)
