Members of the Dallas and Fort Worth symphony orchestras play in the lobby of the new Terminal D at Dallas/Fort Worth Airport on Thursday. Forty-six members of each orchestra will perform at the opening celebration for the terminal next month.
David Heyde of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra plays French horn Thursday at Terminal D, which is scheduled to be dedicated June 13.
Dallas Mayor Laura Miller and Fort Worth Mayor Mike Moncrief.
From nude floor art in Los Angeles to slot machines in Las Vegas to clam-chowder vendors in Seattle, airport terminals often become showcases for hometown kitsch or culture.
In a nod to the high road, Dallas/Fort Worth Airport will dedicate the opening of international Terminal D on June 13 by highlighting the region's growing profile as a cultural arts center.
Fort Worth Mayor Mike Moncrief called the dedication "a celebration for the world itself," and festivities will include a historic first collaboration of the Dallas and Fort Worth symphony orchestras.
Despite 80 years of coexistence in adjacent counties, the two orchestras have never performed together.
An ensemble of 46 members from each orchestra (to make up a standard orchestral ensemble of 92 musicians) will perform works by American composer Aaron Copland and Mexican composer Jose Pablo Moncayo under Fort Worth director Miguel Harth-Bedoya. Dallas director Andrew Litton will conduct Gershwin's An American in Paris.
"When I first met Dallas Symphony President Fred Bronstein last year, we both agreed that it would be great to find a way for the Dallas Symphony and the Fort Worth Symphony to collaborate," said Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra President Katherine Akos, who was present for the announcement.
