Dallas Chamber Music Society
When “world-class” is misused, it is little more than a boast. It is a description that applies perfectly, however, to the chamber music performances brought to Dallas by the Dallas Chamber Music Society, which has been presenting ensembles of the finest musicians from around the world for 80 years.
Think of that — true excellence since 1945. The Society has hosted chamber musicians from London, from Shanghai and from Jerusalem.
The 200 or so of our neighbors who have been lucky enough to attend each of the first two concerts this season — especially those who heard the astonishing performance by the Danish Quartet this November, an evening that included Suite from There Will be Blood, composed by Radiohead’s Johnny Greenwood — belong to a privileged circle that should and could easily be far larger.
Why hasn’t a larger audience discovered this cultural treasure? It could be because they simply do not know about it. There are four more concerts left in this 2025/2026 season, including performances by the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center.
Opinion
Dallas Morning News, please review the next concert on Dec. 15 at Southern Methodist University’s Caruth Auditorium. At least let your readers know what they are missing.
Mark Perkins, Dallas
Work for truth and reason
I’m grateful to The Dallas Morning News for being a lighthouse of truth and reason in our current political situation through its editorials. Especially “An Unpardonable Pardon” for Juan Orlando Hernandez, who is a convicted drug trafficker; “Will Trump Punish all Immigrants?” (they certainly aren’t all guilty); and “‘Kill Everybody’ Is Not Who We Are” on targeting drug boats.
I was just at a religious service where a prayer was made on what was advised in the editorial on the drug boats: “It’s critical that Congress get involved and it appears that at least some bipartisan movement is in that direction.“
May our politicians start working together and make a bipartisan effort for truth and reason on these and other issues.
Rebecca Bertoni, Lantana
Make wiser investments
Re: “Billionaires donate $6.25B to ‘generations to come’ — Funds to be deposited in federal investment accounts for children,” Wednesday news story.
Think of Michael and Susan Dell as financial godparents to children ineligible to receive $1,000 from the federal government at birth. These Trump investment account recipients must have a Social Security number and have been born in the United States between Jan. 1, 2025, and Dec. 31, 2028.
This seemingly commendable gift puts a Band-aid on systemic economic problems that will ensnare these savings account holders the same way they trap their parents.
As long as food prices continue to rise, as long as workers are not paid a living wage, as long as public schools are decimated, as long as health care costs soar, as long as affordable housing remains out of reach for far too many Americans, this lovely parting gift deserves nothing more than a thank-you note.
Billionaires like Michael and Susan Dell should know how to make a wiser investment.
Barbara Chiarello, Austin
Build, neglect, tear it down
Re: “Repair costs ballooned — Estimates totaled about $90 million nearly 10 years ago,” Nov. 29 Metro & Business story.
Build it. Neglect it. Tear it down. That’s the Dallas way.
Lane Adamson, North Garland
Dallas a can’t-do city
Does it matter that the repair cost to the I.M. Pei-designed City Hall was $90 million in 2016? Does it matter almost 10 years later, estimates range from $345 million to $500 million? I ask because the city of Dallas is infamous for failing to take proper measures to maintain key infrastructure.
If not for the private sector — raising billions of dollars from philanthropists — this city would lack popular structures and features.
Whether it’s our city government structure, or the wrong people making up our civil leadership, Dallas has become a can’t-do city in a can-do state.
Bye-bye, AT&T. Bye-bye, Dallas Stars, Dallas Mavericks, Neiman Marcus, Price Waterhouse Coopers, Trammell Crow, Invesco, Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, etc.
Thanks to all the private investors and developers trying to revitalize downtown. But if the city of Dallas continues to fall on their face with feeble efforts on upkeep, what was once the heartbeat of Dallas will soon become flatlined.
Dallas, either lead, follow or get out of the way.
Guy Mercurio, Dallas
Historical culture deteriorating
Re: “We cannot let truth go out of style — To heal our land, we have to turn away from comfortable lies,” by Peter Johnson, Nov. 16 Opinion.
Johnson’s column regarding truth is well said and accurate but deals with the symptoms, not the cause. In my view, we have a society today where our historical culture is in a state of deterioration and with it, our form of government’s bipartisan structure.
I refer him to a quote from John Adams: “Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”
Douglas Potter, Dallas
To those at Pearl Harbor
Today we honor the courageous service members who made the ultimate sacrifice defending our country during the attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941. We owe a debt of gratitude to those who put their lives on the line to protect our freedoms at home and abroad.
Paul Bacon, Hallandale Beach, Fla.