Welcome friends, to our 2025-26 season. We're still coming off the high of last season's finale performances of Douglas Moore's Giants in the Earth but, thanks to South Dakota Public Broadcasting, we will all be able to experience this wonderful production again, broadcast on October 23rd - and to share it with others!
This season is full of color and virtuosity. Beginning with the Flamenco-infused music of de Falla, Debussy, and Bizet, we'll continue the excitement through the fall with a live-to-film performance of Psycho. The jazz-inspired November classical fueatures masters from Ellington and Gershwin to Chick Corea. Our all-string orhestra program in January highlights the mastery of our musicians in repertoire from Mozart and Strauss to film composer Michael Abels. February brings us home to Beethoven and Brahms, and in March cultural historian Joseph Horowitz joins us to explore Shostakovich's masterful Symphony No. 8 (reportedly the composer's favorite). April begins with Haydn's fabulous oratorio The Creation, which wonderfully "animates" texts from the Bible and Milton's Paradise Lost. We welcome back audience favorite Alessio Bax to close out this year's musical journey with Mozart Piano Concert No. 21 followed by Bartok's Concerto for Orchestra, which highlights every person in our fabulous orchestra.
Please don't miss the opportunity to experience the Lakota Music Project on October 18 at the Multi-Cultural Center. This program features our musicians side-by-side with Lakota drumming group The Creekside Singers and Dakota cedar flutist and NEA National Treasure Bryan Akipa. Come witness what friendship with our neighbors looks (and sounds) like!
Musically yours,
Delta David Gier
Welcome to the South Dakota Symphony Orchestra's 2025-26 season, and thank you for being a vital part of our musical family. As we begin a new season, we are filled with anticipation for the music we will share with you and profound gratitude for the support that makes it all possible. More than just a series of performances, each concert is a powerful reminder of music's importance in our lives and community.
Live orchestral music is a transcendent experience. It connects us to a tradition stretching back centuries while also allowing us to engage with the innovative and forward-looking voices of today. In a world filled with digital noise, a concert offers a rare opportunity to engage with something truly beautiful and meaningful. It is a collective, shared journey that lifts our spirits and enriches our lives in ways that few other art forms can. I strongly believe that the shared experience of music helps communities understand themselves better.
The South Dakota Symphony Orchestra is committed to being more than a performance ensemble; we are a dedicated community partner. We strive to create connections and build bridges throughout our state by presenting a diverse mix of classical, pops, and culturally significant programs. Our award-winning Lakota Music Project is a prime example of our commitment to fostering cross-cultural understanding, and our Bridging Cultures initiative has celebrated music from many diverse backgrounds. Through these programs, we ask a critical question: "How do we use music to make our community better"?
For music to thrive, we must invest in the next generation. The SDSO is deeply committed to music education and fostering a lifelong love of music in children and adults alike. Our educational programs include the South Dakota Symphony Youth Orchestra, Young People's Concerts for thousands of students, composition academies, and performances by our resident ensembles in schools.
Research consistently shows that music education strengthens the brain, improves academic success, and builds crucial skills like concentration, teamwork, and confidence. For young people, music offers a powerful way to know themselves, express themselves, manage anxiety, and find a sense of belonging in a collaborative, creative environment. It is a life-long gift that helps shape not only skilled musicians, but also engaged, creative, and successful citizens.
Your presence at our concerts, your volunteerism, and your philanthropic support are what allow this vital work to continue. The SDSO is successful because of you. We invite you to continue to engage with us, whether it is in the concert hall, at a school performance, or by brining a friend to experience the magic of live music for the first time.
Thank you for celebrating the enduring power of music with us.
With sincere gratitude,
José-Marie Griffiths
President, South Dakota Symphony Orchestra Board of Directors
President, Dakota State University
Twenty years ago, Delta David Gier and a team of Lakota and Dakota artistic advisors founded the Lakota Music Project with the intention of utilizing music as a vehicle to address the racial tension between Native and non-Native people. Since then, the Lakota Music Project has performed in six of South Dakota's nine reservations and also in Pierre, Sioux Falls, Washington D.C., and the Crazy Horse Memorial. The SDSO's first-ever album was music written for the Lakota Music Project and to date, seven new works have been written for it. This season, the Lakota Music Project tours six South Dakota towns from October 13-18, 2025--the longest tour to date.
What makes the Lakota Music Project special, is the same secret sauce that sets the South Dakota Symphony Orchestra apart from any other orchestra in the nation. It's a laser focused commitment to utilizing music to build a bridge between communities. The drum keeper for the Creekside Singers is Emmanuel Black Bear, who has been with the Lakota Music Project from the beginning. He was quoted in the recent New York Times article about the Lakota Music Project (June 8, 2025) about this work, "We all have our music...It's our common ground. It's not what makes us different, it's what makes us similar." This says it all. Music is what makes us similar. When we are hearing the SDSO or our youth orchestra in the Mary W. Sommervold concert hall, the Dakota String Quartet at Hamre Recital Hall, or the Dakota Wind Quintet at a school, library, or hospital, the music is brining us together - and as Emmanuel would say, creating common ground.
Let's look at how the 2025-26 season connects people through music. The New York Philharmonic principal trombonist, Joe Alessi, returns to Sioux Falls to perform a concerto written for him by jazz legend Chick Corea, and Augustana University is bringing students from around the region to attend workshops with him in the days leading up to the concert. Cultural historian Joseph Horowitz returns this season for a deep dive in the SDSO's Shostakovich Festival, which includes engagements at South Dakota State University, Dakota State University, and Augustana University. The SDSO's Dakota String Quartet and Dakota Wind Quintet are performing 150 times throughout the season off the main stage in elementary and middle school tours, Music as Medicine performances at Avera's Prairie Center, and at DakotAbilities, Lifescape, Children's Home Society, and many other institution throughout our region.
The SDSO does all of this in service for our great community. And you -- audiences, donors, and volunteers are the engine that drives the orchestra! Your enthusiasm and involvement keep this great orchestra aspiring to new heights. Thank you for your support, and for another great year of making music!
Jennifer Teisinger
Executive Director