For more than seven years, he's been the maestro behind the music at the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, but soon Jaap van Zweden will be moving on.
The Dutch conductor has made Texas his home and has transformed the DSO, but today a bittersweet note for his musicians and fans – word that van Zweden will soon become Music Director of the New York Philharmonic.
"Any time you have somebody who brings the best out of you and also brings you to a level that you didn't think you could do before, you're going to love that person," said Alexander Kerr, concertmaster with the DSO. "He's brought this orchestra to completely new heights."
In Dallas, van Zweden has been a musical leader and a fundraising and public relations force, frequent filming videos for the DSO's YouTube Channel.
"You take the orchestra four years ago until now, it is a line which is up dramatically," van Zweden told WFAA in 2013, just before he took the orchestra on a European tour.
"It is wonderful to be part of a city which is growing so dramatically, and not just by population but also by culture," he said. "The orchestra has raised its profile dramatically in the United States."
And many say van Zweden raised the bar for the city's entire arts scene.
"Jaap has really demanded excellence from this orchestra," said David Fisher, interim director of the City of Dallas Office of Cultural Affairs. "When the symphony is playing better, it means the opera plays better, and the theater center plays better and all of the arts."
"As excited as I am about my appointment with the New York Philharmonic, I continue to be gratified by the work we have done and will continue to do in Dallas," van Zweden said in a statement Wednesday.
He's not going silent yet. He has two more seasons at the Meyerson with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra and will continue as Conductor Laureate for years to come.
