Delta David Gier

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Delta David Gier Music Director of the South Dakota Symphony since 2004. Chair of the 2011 Pulitzer Prize for music.

Winner of 7 ASCAP Awards including —the John S Edwards Award for Strongest Commitment to New American Music. Conductor Delta David Gier has launched Bridge Projects to foster collaborative relationships between symphony orchestras and local communities. The term “bridge project” is designed to use music to create an understanding between communities which are strangers…often within the same city or region.

A chocolate and tequila pairing? Perfect Father’s Day gift from Anna and Nick, shared together in London.
08/15/2026

A chocolate and tequila pairing? Perfect Father’s Day gift from Anna and Nick, shared together in London.

Proper high tea at Fortnam & Mason.
08/14/2026

Proper high tea at Fortnam & Mason.

English w**e. Nope.
08/11/2026

English w**e. Nope.

Yup. Greetings from Tokaj. Another Crescendo Summer Institute on the books. Congratulations to our students and faculty ...
08/01/2026

Yup. Greetings from Tokaj. Another Crescendo Summer Institute on the books. Congratulations to our students and faculty on our Dvorak 7 (what an incredible piece!!!)

Just glad to be back here at the Crescendo Summer Institute.
07/27/2026

Just glad to be back here at the Crescendo Summer Institute.

Congratulations to two of our SDSO composition academy students Kili Cole (Cheyenne River/Lakota) and Toby Shaw (Sisseto...
07/16/2026

Congratulations to two of our SDSO composition academy students Kili Cole (Cheyenne River/Lakota) and Toby Shaw (Sisseton/Dakota) on the performances of their pieces by the Inner City Youth Orchestra of Los Angeles during their U.S. tour. Excellently conducted by Rosalind Dowling, shown here alongside ICYOLA founder and conductor Charles Dickerson.
— with ICYOLA at Mount Rushmore National Memorial.

So proud of my dear friend Michelle Lavallee, a 2026 inductee to the South Dakota Hall of Fame!
05/07/2026

So proud of my dear friend Michelle Lavallee, a 2026 inductee to the South Dakota Hall of Fame!

May project. Sheer Joy.
05/06/2026

May project. Sheer Joy.

Awesome evening with Trio Incognito: David Bixler, saxophones, Daniel Lewis, bass, Fabio Rojas, drums and cymbals.
05/03/2026

Awesome evening with Trio Incognito: David Bixler, saxophones, Daniel Lewis, bass, Fabio Rojas, drums and cymbals.

04/14/2026

The South Dakota Symphony Orchestra is in the New York Times again.

Delta David Gier, the music director of the South Dakota Symphony Orchestra, said his decision to move to Sioux Falls from New York City 20 years ago was important to the South Dakota orchestra’s evolution into one of the most respected symphonies in the nation. (“Before that, I couldn’t have put South Dakota on a map,” Gier said. “And I hated winter.”) It allowed him to focus on hiring musicians, working with the ones who were there and developing programming that has been praised as innovative.

Gier said that, had he been a commuting conductor, it would not have been possible to create the Lakota Music Project, where he and orchestra members travel South Dakota performing with Native American musicians, deepening the orchestra’s ties with the community.

“I believed in exploring how an orchestra serves a community as opposed to just giving concerts,” he said. “Living here really enabled me to build relations with Native partners, which would have been much more difficult if I were flying in and out and staying only a week at a time. I would not have done that if I had stuck with my 14 weeks a year.”

“You have to spend time there,” Gier said. “You have to develop relations. In the end it’s all about relationships with people. It’s not simply about selling tickets.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/14/arts/music/should-orchestra-conductors-stay-home.html

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1601 University Blvd
Brookings, SD
57007

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