Dallas Symphony Orchestra Announces Joshua Habermann as Chorus Director

Dallas Symphony Orchestra Announces

Joshua Habermann as Chorus Director

DALLAS (December 1, 2010) – The Dallas Symphony Orchestra today
announces the appointment of Joshua Habermann as Dallas Symphony
Chorus Director, beginning in the summer of 2011. The 200-voice
Dallas Symphony Chorus is the official vocal ensemble of the Dallas
Symphony Orchestra.

Habermann, 42, the sixth director of the Dallas Symphony Chorus,
follows the beloved David R. Davidson who led the chorus to great
acclaim from 1997-2009. Habermann’s responsibilities will include
preparing the Dallas Symphony Chorus for performances with Music
Director Jaap van Zweden and various guest conductors, as well as
leading the annual Christmas Celebration and other performances as
assigned.

Habermann is currently serving as music director of the
Masterchorale of South Florida (Miami, FL) and the Santa Fe Desert
Chorale (Santa Fe, NM), where he made his debut in 2009 and is
under contract through 2012. Habermann is also an associate
professor and program director of choral studies at the University
of Miami Frost School of Music, where he conducts the Frost Chorale
and other choral ensembles. He will complete the season leading the
Miami Master Chorale as well as his teaching duties at University
of Miami through the 2010-2011 academic year.

A native of California, Habermann is a graduate of Georgetown
University and the University of Texas at Austin, where he
completed doctoral studies in conducting with Craig Hella Johnson.
He has also studied under Helmuth Rilling (conducting), Scott
Fogelsong (piano) and David Jones (voice).

“Josh Habermann made a wonderful impression during the audition
process and received the highest ratings from the Dallas Symphony
Chorus,” said Paul Stewart, president of the Dallas Symphony
Orchestra. “We were also extremely impressed when we saw him lead
the Desert Chorale in Santa Fe. Josh is very engaging personally
and will be a great ambassador for the Chorus and the DSO. He was
the overwhelming choice of our search committee, and we are
delighted that he will be joining the DSO team.”

“Josh is an exceptionally talented musician and had immediate
chemistry with our chorus,” said DSO Music Director Jaap van
Zweden. “I am looking forward to working with him very much.”

Habermann will be relocating to Dallas with his wife Joanna
Habermann, a children’s choir director, during the summer. In
addition to his duties as director of the Dallas Symphony Chorus,
Habermann will continue as music director of the Santa Fe Desert
Chorale.

“I’m thrilled to be working with an ensemble with such a
wonderful history of conductors and music-making in one of the
finest symphony halls in America,” Habermann said. “I’m looking
forward very much to working with the singers, growing the chorus
and continuing the wonderful tradition that they’ve had for so many
years.”

Habermann has appeared in numerous conferences and festivals,
including international engagements in Havana, Cuba (2002 Festival
Internacional de Coros), Germany, Czech Republic, China and France.
As a singer (tenor) he performs with the Oregon Bach Festival
Chorus (Eugene, Oregon), where he can be heard on the Grammy
Award-winning recording of Krzystof Penderecki’s Credo. Other
projects include two recordings with Austin-based Conspirare:
Through the Green Fuse, and Requiem, a Grammy nominee for best
choral recording in 2006. Habermann also maintains an interest in
the Hawaiian choral tradition, and sings periodically with
Kawaiolaonapukanileo, an ensemble dedicated to performing and
preserving this unique repertoire.

“The Dallas Symphony Chorus had a glorious past under the
direction of David Davidson,” said Morton H. Meyerson, namesake of
the Dallas Symphony Orchestra’s home, the Morton H. Meyerson
Symphony Center, and a long-time supporter of the DSO and former
member of the Dallas Symphony Chorus. “It takes a dedicated choral
community to be great and when you add a superb leader like Josh
Habermann anything is possible. Josh is the best possible leader at
the right time to collaborate with Maestro Jaap van Zweden. I am so
happy to see Josh join us!”

Habermann’s other interests include Latin American and Nordic
music. His dissertation on the a cappella works of Finnish composer
Einojuhani Rautavaara was a Julius Herford Prize finalist for music
research in 1997. From 1996-2006 Habermann was assistant conductor
of the San Francisco Symphony Chorus, and in 2006-2007 served as
interim director. In that capacity he prepared the chorus for
performances with conductors Michael Tilson Thomas and Charles
Dutoit in concerts of Mozart, and Berlioz: La Damnation de Faust.
Recordings as a singer with the SFSC include Christmas by the Bay
(Decca Records), and Mahler Symphony No. 2 (London Records), also a
Grammy nominee for Best Choral/Orchestral Recording.

The Chorus Director Search Committee included three chorus
members (Joe Vetter, Brad Rountree and Sharon King); Dallas
Symphony Associate Principal Bassoonist Scott Walzel; Paul
Phillips, director of the orchestra program at Southern Methodist
University; James Scott, Dean of the School of Music at the
University of North Texas; and Dallas Symphony Vice-President of
Artistic Operations Mark Melson.

ABOUT THE DALLAS SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

The Dallas Symphony Orchestra, under the leadership of Music
Director Jaap van Zweden, presents the finest in classical and pops
music, new music and family and holiday concerts at the
internationally heralded Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center. As the
largest performing arts organization in the Southwest, the DSO is
committed to inspiring the broadest possible audience with
distinctive classical programs, concerts with popular
personalities, and innovative multi-media presentations. In
fulfilling its commitment to the community, the DSO’s involvement
with the City of Dallas and the surrounding region includes an
award-winning multi-faceted educational program, community
concerts, popular parks concerts, complimentary ticket distribution
and children’s programming. The DSO has a tradition dating back to
1900, and it is a cornerstone of the unique, 68 acre Arts District
in downtown Dallas that is home to multiple performing arts venues,
museums and parks; the largest district of its kind in the
nation.