Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
The Grammy Award–winning Baltimore Symphony Orchestra (BSO) is internationally recognized as having achieved a preeminent place among the world’s most important orchestras. Acclaimed for its enduring pursuit of artistic excellence, the BSO has attracted a devoted national and international following, while maintaining deep bonds throughout Maryland with innovative education and community outreach initiatives.
The BSO made music history in September 2007, when Marin Alsop led her inaugural concerts as the orchestra’s 12th Music Director, making her the first woman to head a major American orchestra. With her highly praised artistic vision, her dynamic musicianship, and her commitment to accessibility in classical music, Ms. Alsop’s leadership has ushered in a new era for the BSO and its audiences.
Under Ms. Alsop’s leadership, the BSO has rapidly added several critically acclaimed albums to its already impressive discography. The BSO recently released Dvořák’s Symphonies Nos. 6, 7, and 8—the final two discs in its three-disc Dvořák cycle. In August 2009, the BSO and Ms. Alsop released Bernstein’s Mass, featuring baritone Jubilant Sykes, the Morgan State University Choir, and the Peabody Children’s Chorus. The album rose to No. 6 on Billboard’s Classical Charts and received a 2009 Grammy nomination for Best Classical Album and an Editor’s Choice in Gramophone magazine. The orchestra made its foray into online distribution in April 2007 with the release of a live concert recording of Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring on iTunes, which quickly become the site’s top-selling classical music download.
In addition to the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, where the orchestra has performed for 28 years, the BSO is a founding partner and the resident orchestra at the new state-of-the-art Music Center at Strathmore, just outside Washington, DC. With the opening of Strathmore in February 2005, the BSO became the nation’s only major orchestra with year-round venues in two metropolitan areas.
Marin Alsop
Hailed as one of the world’s leading conductors for her artistic vision and commitment to accessibility in classical music, Marin Alsop made history with her appointment as the 12th Music Director of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. With her inaugural concerts in September 2007, she became the first woman to head a major American orchestra. She also holds the title of Conductor Emeritus at the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra in the UK, where she served as the principal conductor from 2002 to 2008, and is Music Director of the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music in California.
In 2005, Ms. Alsop was named a MacArthur Fellow, the first conductor ever to receive this prestigious award. In 2007, she was honored with a European Women of Achievement Award; in 2008, she was inducted as a fellow into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences; and in 2009, Musical America named her Conductor of the Year.
A regular guest conductor with the New York Philharmonic, The Philadelphia Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, and Los Angeles Philharmonic, Ms. Alsop appears frequently as a guest conductor with the most distinguished orchestras around the world. In addition to her performance activities, she is also an active recording artist, with award-winning cycles of works by Brahms, Barber, and Dvořák.
Marin Alsop attended Yale University and received her master’s degree from The Juilliard School. In 1989, her conducting career was launched when she won the Koussevitzky Conducting Prize at Tanglewood, where she studied with Leonard Bernstein.
More Info