THE DSO IN VAIL: The Dallas Symphony Orchestra opened its 10th residency at the Bravo! Vail Valley Music Festival this week. On the bill is a bit of a polarizing figure – soloist Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg.  The violinist was part of the DSO’s season opener this year and was called out by some of the local critics for her wild gesticulating. And it sounds as if maybe she’s taken some of that criticism to heart. In Vail, she played Samuel Barber’s Concerto for Violin. “Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg gave a richly warm reading of the solo part of the work that largely avoided the mannerisms that have come to detract more and more from her artistry,” writes Wes Blomster on dallasnews.com.

MUSIC BITS: It’s been rumored for a few weeks now, but now it’s official: the Lilith Fair tour stop in Dallas has been canceled according to a news release that landed in my inbox last night. That means no homecoming for Erykah Badu and Norah Jones. … The Old 97’s are offering up a free three-song live EP. (DC 9 at Night) … Fort Worth’s Cityview talks about how its old lineup became its new lineup. (fwweekly.com)

AMON CARTER GOES MODERN: The current big show at the Amon Carter is called “Constructive Spirit: Abstract Art in South and North America, 1920s–50s.” Just about every medium is represented, including painting, sculpture, photography, drawing and film. And Christina Rees says get thee to it. “The exhibition is the best of its type: there is something for everyone while the work is never dumbed down,” she writes on D‘s Front Row blog. She gives an extra high five to curator Mary Kate O’Hare, who put the show together with lots of material from her home institution, the Newark Museum. You can see Jerome’s interview with O’Hare for Think TV here.