PRESS CONTACTS: Laura Farmer, 410.783.8024 LFarmer@bsomusic.org Alyssa Porambo, 410.783.8044 APorambo@bsomusic.org First West Coast Tour for Baltimore Symphony Orchestra Under Music Director Marin Alsop Tour Includes Three Concert Residency in Berkeley, CA Repertoire includes Prokofiev s Fifth Symphony and Richard Einhorn s Voices of Light Baltimore, Md. (March 8, 2012) From March 28 th to April 2 nd, the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra will make its first tour under Marin Alsop, now in her fifth season as Music Director. This will be the BSO s first tour to the West Coast since 1988, and its first domestic tour since 2000 (excluding previous Carnegie Hall and Kennedy Center engagements). The Orchestra will travel to Orange County to perform at Segerstrom Center for the Arts, Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall presented by the Philharmonic Society of Orange County (Costa Mesa, Ca.), to the Silva Concert Hall of the Hult Center for the Performing Arts (Eugene, Or.) and give a three day education and performance residency at the Zellerbach Hall presented by Cal Performances of the University of California (Berkeley, Ca.). The Orchestra has a long history as a cultural ambassador for the region and I am pleased to continue and expand that commitment, says BSO Music Director Marin Alsop. Our exciting West Coast tour will forge new partnerships and enhance the BSO s reputation on a national scale. Our three day residency in Berkeley highlights the musicians and my passion for youth education and reflects our recent achievements in the creation of programs for adult life long learning.
At the heart of the tour, the Berkeley residency embraces two multi media projects: on March 30 th the BSO will present a morning education concert featuring Philip Glass LIFE: A Journey Through Time, choreographed to National Geographic photographer Frans Lanting s stunning images, and offered through Cal Performance s SchoolTime concert series; on March 31 st, Alsop and the BSO recreate the Baltimore success in early March with a presentation of the extraordinary 1928 silent film The Passion of Joan of Arc by Carl Theodor Dreyer, set to Richard Einhorn s haunting choral score Voices of Light. For this work, the BSO is joined by the UC Choral Ensemble, directed by Mark Sumner. On the evening of Friday March 30 th, Alsop leads an orchestral program at Zellerbach Hall including Aaron Copland s Fanfare for the Common Man, Joan Tower s Fanfare for the Uncommon Woman, Jennifer Higdon s Percussion Concerto (Colin Currie, soloist), and Prokofiev s Symphony No. 5. Additionally, Alsop will hold a master class for conductors with the UCB Department of Music. The BSO is the third orchestra to participate in Cal Performances annual Orchestra Residency; past orchestras include the Vienna Philharmonic and the Mariinsky Orchestra. To listen to Alsop and Cal Performances Director Matias Tarnopolsky discuss the programs go to http://www.calperformances.org/learn/watch_listen/#bso The tour begins on March 28 th at the Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall of the Segerstrom Center for the Arts, Costa Mesa, with the same program, and ends on April 2 nd at the Silva Concert Hall of the Hult Center for the Performing Arts (Eugene, Or.) with the same first half and Tchaikovsky s Symphony No. 5 replacing Prokofiev s Symphony No. 5. The Hult Center is home of the Eugene Symphony, with which Maestra Alsop previously held the post of Music Director and Conductor from 1989 1996, and remains Conductor Laureate. Throughout its nearly 100 year history, the BSO has represented Maryland in concert halls in the United States, Europe, Russia and East Asia, said BSO President and CEO Paul Meecham. The West Coast tour broadcasts on a national scale both the BSO s reputation of artistic excellence as well as the State of Maryland s standing as a center of cultural vitality. 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 12 th 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 in the United Kingdom, where she served as the principal conductor from 2002 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. In November 2010, she was inducted into the Classical Music Hall of Fame. In February 2011, Marin Alsop was named the music director of the Orquestra Sinfônica do estado de São Paulo (OSESP), or the São Paulo State Symphony Orchestra, effective for the 2012 13 season. Ms. Alsop was named to Guardian s Top 100 Women list in March 2011. In 2011 Marin Alsop was named an Artist in Residence at the Southbank Centre in London, England. 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 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. The soloist of choice for composers from Reich to Rautavaara, Colin Currie has been the driving force behind new percussion repertoire for more than a decade. Acclaimed for his virtuosity and musical integrity, Currie is a solo and chamber artist at the peak of his powers. Championing new music at the highest level, Currie is soloist with many of the world s leading orchestras, such as the Concertgebouw Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Philharmonia Orchestra and London Philharmonic. Currie s athletic percussionism, compulsive showmanship and deep musicality (The Guardian) has inspired composers from around the globe, and forthcoming commissions include new works written for Currie by Steve Reich, James MacMillan and Louis Andriessen. From his earliest years Currie forged a pioneering path in creating new music for percussion. He was awarded the Royal Philharmonic Society Young Artist Award in 2000 for his inspirational role in contemporary music making, and recent projects include premieres by composers such as Simon Holt, Kurt Schwertsik, Einojuhani Rautavaara, Jennifer Higdon, Alexander Goehr, and most recently Elliott Carter, whose double concerto entitled Conversations was premiered by Currie with Pierre Laurent Aimard at the Aldeburgh Festival in June 2011, conducted by Oliver Knussen. Currie is Artist in Residence at London s Southbank Centre from the 2011/12 season onwards, a role which will allow Currie to develop new relationships with artists and ensembles across a variety of art forms, as well as take part in collaborative and educational projects. The residency also involves several major commission projects in future seasons including the world premiere of Kalevi Aho s Percussion Concerto which Colin performs in April 2012 with the London Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Osmo Vänskä. Currie s other world premiere performances of this season include engagements with the Los Angeles Philharmonic under Gustavo Dudamel in a new work by Joseph Pereira, Sally Beamish s percussion concerto Dance Variations with the Swedish Chamber Orchestra followed by performances with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and at Stanford Lively Arts in California, and Askell Masson s Percussion Concerto with the Turku Philharmonic. Currie s recording of Rautavaara s Incantations with the Helsinki Philharmonic under John Storgårds is released in Spring 2012 on the Ondine label. Previous CD releases by Currie include Jennifer Higdon s Percussion Concerto conducted by Marin Alsop with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, a disc
which won a 2010 Grammy Award, and Currie s recital disc Borrowed Time, which features music by British composer Dave Maric and is available on the Onyx label. Wednesday, March 28, 2012 at 8 p.m. Segerstrom Center for the Arts, Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall Presented by the Philharmonic Society of Orange County Prokofiev: Symphony No. 5 Tickets start at $30 and are available through www.philharmonicsociety.org or by calling 949 553 2422. Friday, March 30, 2012 at 11 a.m. Cal Performances, UC Berkeley, Zellerbach Auditorium Philip Glass: LIFE: A Journey Through Time Editor s note: This is a concert for students; public tickets are not available for this event. Friday, March 30, 2012 at 8 p.m. Cal Performances, UC Berkeley, Zellerbach Auditorium Prokofiev: Symphony No. 5 Tickets start at $30 and are available at www.calperformances.org or 510.642.9988.
Saturday, March 31, 2012 at 8 p.m. Cal Performances, UC Berkeley, Zellerbach Auditorium Richard Einhorn: Voices of Light UC Choral Ensemble Mark Sumner, director Tickets start at $30 and are available at www.calperformances.org or 510.642.9988. Monday, April 2, 2012 at 8 p.m. Hult Center for the Performing Arts, Silva Concert Hall (Eugene, OR) Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 5 Tickets start at $15 and are available through www.hultcenter.org or 541.682.5000. ###