Dallas Symphony Orchestra appoints Chorus director

Dallas Symphony Orchestra has announced American conductor Anthony Blake Clark as the new director of the Dallas Symphony Chorus. Effective from the start of the 2023-24 season, Clarke will work closely with music director Fabio Luisi to prepare and direct the chorus for the upcoming programme of concerts.

Clarks’ first concert with the Chorus will be a performance of Liszt’s A Faust Symphony, and the ensemble will appear on a number of different programmes during the next year, including Brahms’s Requiem and Franz Schmidt’s Das Buch mit sieben Siegeln.

Clark is an alumnus of the University of Birmingham’s Choral Conducting programme, where he trained with Simon Halsey CBE, who said: ‘We are simply delighted that yet another alumni of our MA Choral Conducting programme has been appointed to a position of international standing, and comes hot on the heels of the recent announcement that Mariana Rosas will now lead the London Symphony Chorus.’

Clark brings to his new role experience preparing choral ensembles for orchestras including the Berliner Philharmoniker, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Vienna Radio Orchestra and the Richmond Symphony Orchestra.

The Dallas Symphony Orchestra is the largest performing arts organisation in the Southwest, presenting more than 150 orchestra concerts at its home at the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center, as well as presenting educational programmes and community outreach initiatives serving the surrounding Texas population.

Clarke said: ‘This all-volunteer chorus is an incredible group of singers who work diligently every week to make music together at the highest level. I am excited to return to my Texas roots, and I look forward to building upon the DSC’s history of choral music excellence.’