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Jennifer Hudson to perform at high-profile Dallas festival in 2019

Grammy Award-winning singer Jennifer Hudson will perform a one-night-only concert backed by the Dallas Symphony Orchestra on April 20. The performance is part of the Nancy A. Nasher and David J. Haemisegger Family SOLUNA International Music & Arts Festival and will take place at the Meyerson Symphony Center.

Soluna has paired pop icons like St. Vincent, Pharrell and Nas with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra over four of the five years since the festival's debut 2015. Jennifer Hudson is a "household name," says Kim Noltemy, president and CEO of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra. Hudson has has worked with symphony orchestras before, and her slower songs are a good fit for a strings section, Noltemy says.

When asked to describe the evening, Noltemy imagines an "awe-inspiring genesis between this incredible voice and personality and the great artistry of the symphony."

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Plus, Hudson doesn't tour through Dallas all that often: The Dallas Morning News' database shows that she performed here in 2009, 2011 and 2017.

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Hudson is known for her powerful voice, one featured on studio albums, the silver screen, Broadway and television. Hudson starred in the movie Dreamgirls, performed on stage in The Color Purple, and has appeared on American Idol and The Voice. (J-Hud was eliminated surprisingly early on Season 3 of American Idol, not that it stopped her.)

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Soluna is a several-week event in Dallas "anchored" by classical performances, explains Denise McGovern, vice president of communications for the Dallas Symphony Orchestra. Other events — often, "hip, edgy" ones like last year's — touch upon the areas of visual arts, music, dance and film. Soluna takes place over several weeks instead of one jam-packed week or weekend for one simple reason: "to get the best talent," Noltemy says.

For Dallasites unaware of Soluna, Hudson's name on its calendar gives pop music fans a glimpse into the rest of the fest. "I think it's a way to demonstrate our sincere wish to push the envelope on all of this — and not just do the things that are typical," Noltemy says.

When Nas performed at Soluna in 2018, one of our critics called it "one of the best concerts of the year."

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Tickets for the Hudson show, sponsored by Capital One, go on sale Feb. 21 and cost $50 to $350.