Mark Melson managed three tours by the Dallas Symphony to Europe, five trips to Carnegie Hall and helped pick Jaap van Zweden to be the orchestra’s conductor. He even hosted a regular radio show on WRR for seven years.

Handel’s “Messiah” is a great choral masterpiece, a point strongly reinforced by Thursday’s superb Dallas Symphony performance with guest conductor and Baroque specialist Helmuth Rilling.

Bill Lively raised the $338 million needed to build the AT&T Performing Arts Center. Then he became president of the North Texas Super Bowl Host Committee. The Super Bowl’s still three weeks away, but Lively has already lined up his next job: president of the Dallas Symphony. The city’s biggest arts organization gets its biggest money man in the arts.

The best day the AT&T Performing Arts Center has had was its first day — when it held an open house and 45,000 people showed up for tours and freebies. Now the Dallas Arts District organization is aiming to replicate some of that excitement — for a whole month.

PADS AND POINTE SHOES: A night’s sleep has done little to erase the memory of Sunday night’s last-second loss to the Giants. But just like Tony Romo has to forget about those three interceptions, we’ve got to try and forget about what might have been. So maybe this story from the Washington Post will help? [...]

The City of Dallas Office of Cultural Affairs is marking its 20th anniversary. And the city’s many cultural organizations are helping with the celebration. And you get some new ways to stretch your arts and entertainment dollar.

At age 91, I. M. Pei — architect behind Dallas’ City Hall and the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center — has said he has designed his last building. It’s the Museum of Islamic Arts in Qatar. It’s the country’s new national symbol, and according to the London Times, “it might just be the best new [...]