DSO To Resume Full-Capacity Concerts At Orchestra Hall

DETROIT (AP) — The Detroit Symphony Orchestra is scheduled to hold its first full-capacity concert at Orchestra Hall since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.

DETROIT, MI - AUGUST 13: A general view of the interior of Orchestra Hall, built in 1919 and home to the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, on August 13, 2014 in Detroit, Michigan. (Photo by Paul Marotta/Getty Images)

Italian composer Ottorino Respighi's symphonic poems describing the stunning fountains and graceful pines of Rome will be performed Thursday under the leadership of music director Jader Bignamini.

The orchestra last performed for a full-capacity, indoor audience in March 2020 shortly before Gov. Gretchen Whitmer issued stay-at-home orders to help stop the spread of COVID-19.

The DSO had canceled or rescheduled concerts through May 10, 2020. It later canceled all in-person performances at Orchestra Hall for the remaining of the 2019-20 concert season due to state restrictions and recommendations on large gatherings.

The DSO kept the music playing by offering outdoor concerts during the summer months of 2020 and 2021 and a live-streamed digital concert series beginning in September 2020 to align with the orchestra's traditional fall concert season.

"Being together after so many months, we will celebrate not only a new season but also our lives -- the celebration of our hope in a better future for everyone and the celebration of the great job that our orchestra and our staff did during this pandemic to arrive at this new beginning," Bignamini said in a release.

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