Dallas Wind Symphony
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Dallas Wind Symphony (DWS) is a professional concert band based in Dallas, Texas (USA).
The DWS was founded in 1985 by Kim Campbell and Southern Methodist University music professor Howard Dunn. It was originally organized as a "reading band" to allow adult musicians (many of them music teachers and band directors) to play challenging wind ensemble music as they had in high school and college. The reading sessions led to performances, first at SMU's Caruth Auditorium and then around the Dallas-Ft. Worth area, with a formal concert season established at the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center in 1990.
After the death of Howard Dunn in 1991, the DWS launched an extensive national search for a new artistic director. Jerry F. Junkin, Director of Bands at the University of Texas at Austin, was named DWS Artistic Director and Conductor in 1993. Frederick Fennell served as Principal Guest Conductor from the mid-1990's until his death in 2004.
The DWS has released twelve high-fidelity recordings since 1991 in partnership with Reference Recordings, ten of which were produced using the patented HDCD encoding process.
Excerpts from DWS concerts are frequently heard on National Public Radio's Performance Today show.
Along with the Tokyo Kosei Wind Orchestra, the Dallas Wind Symphony is regarded as one of the world's leading municipal wind orchestras.
