Austin’s oldest performing arts organization has been making the city more musical since 1911. The Austin Symphony Orchestra performs its Masterworks series in Dell Hall at the Long Center — the lakefront terrace hall whose lawn might be the best concert picnic spot in Texas.
The Symphony’s genius is range: Beethoven and Brahms one weekend, film scores and the beloved Halloween Children’s Concert (costumes encouraged, orchestra in disguise) the next, and its July 4th concert and fireworks over Lady Bird Lake — the city’s biggest birthday party, free for tens of thousands on the lawn. Sarah and Ernest Butler Texas Young Composers programs nurture new Texas voices.
From 1911’s first downbeat to today’s skyline-backed pops, the ASO is proof Austin’s music capital title includes the classical crown.
