The Dallas Symphony Orchestra recently became the first performing arts group in the Dallas Arts District to provide onsite COVID testing before its shows.
Due to the recent surge in COVID cases across North Texas, the DSO now requires patrons 12 and older to display either proof of full vaccination or a negative PCR test taken within 48 hours of the performance they are attending at the Meyerson Symphony Center. Masks remain required for all guests and the hall continues to operate at 60-70% capacity.
The DSO offers free rapid antigen tests in the Meyerson for patrons who have neither vaccine proof nor a recent negative test. Patrons should arrive 60 minutes before the concert to allow time for testing. Those who test positive will have their tickets refunded.
“Our intention is to have the safest environment we can and to have people feel comfortable,” Kim Noltemy, president and CEO of the DSO, told The Dallas Morning News earlier this week. “We’re doing everything we can to avoid a shutdown.”
Although demand for COVID testing has recently skyrocketed, the DSO was able to buy several thousand tests costing about $5 each.
At Thursday’s concert, the DSO reported that 51 out of approximately 500 patrons — or about 10% — opted for the test. Only 2 tests came back positive.
Ruth Yammine, of North Richland Hills, has been coming to DSO performances with her husband, Kaisar, for over 20 years. She sings in a church choir and he plays classical piano. They are both fully vaccinated and boosted.
Ruth Yammine said she wasn’t aware of the new entry policies. That’s why she didn’t have her vaccine card.
After taking the onsite test, Yammine said she didn’t necessarily feel more comfortable being in the hall. She and her husband feel safe because they’re vaccinated.
“The way I see it is that any of us who has been vaccinated can have this new variant,” she said. “I know they did the best they could, but you really don’t know. The fact that everyone is required to wear masks helps a lot.”
The DSO’s new safety protocols have come a week after the orchestra was forced to abridge two of its performances because of COVID infections among musicians.
Texas businesses are prohibited from requiring customers to show proof of COVID-19 vaccination under a law signed by Gov. Greg Abbott in June. Abbott later issued an executive order banning vaccine requirements from groups that receive public funds, or that expect to in the future through grants, contracts, loans or other disbursements.
So, many performing arts groups in the region are requiring vaccine proof or a negative test for admission. But only a few have onsite testing.
In addition to the DSO, Bishop Arts Theatre Center offers tests for $30 before its performances, and Bass Performance Hall in Fort Worth hosts a mobile health care clinic that provides tests for $65 before many of its shows.
Elsewhere in the country, all patrons attending performances by the Los Angeles and New York philharmonic orchestras are required to be fully vaccinated. The Los Angeles Philharmonic also mandates booster shots for those eligible.
