“Despite the pandemic, the music will play on into a second century for the South Dakota Symphony Orchestra,” reports Perry Groten on Friday’s (2/19) Keloland TV (Sioux Falls, SD). “Organizers on Friday announced next season’s lineup of performances, which will usher in the orchestra’s 100th anniversary in 2022…. ‘This is a very exciting time for us—you only turn a hundred once,’ South Dakota Symphony Orchestra Music Director Delta David Gier said. The orchestra’s 2021-2022 season will include performances by soloists and composers from South Dakota, plus music created by the symphony’s outreach to Native American communities called the Lakota Music Project. ‘This project was designed to address racial tensions across the region by making music side-by-side with Lakota and Dakota musicians,’ Gier said. The symphony resumed concerts last fall with fewer musicians on stage and socially distanced audiences. But the full orchestra is expected to be playing by this Christmas…. Symphony leaders say they’ve gotten used to making adjustments over this past year. ‘We’ve actually gotten pretty good at changing programs as needed. We actually programmed this spring’s concerts three different times,’ South Dakota Symphony Orchestra Executive Director Jennifer Teisinger said.”
