The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra plans to honor Marin Alsop for her 14 years as its music director with a multi-week “Marin Festival,” including a live-streamed gala concert featuring Renee Fleming and the orchestra’s first in-person concerts since March of 2020.
The BSO announced this week that the tribute will begin with the return of BSO Encore Powered by PNC on WBJC 91.5 FM radio, starting Sunday, March 7, at 1 p.m.
In addition to recorded concerts, the weekly Sunday broadcasts from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. will feature interviews with Alsop and other BSO musicians about their most treasured moments over the past 14 years.
Alsop has announced that this will be her last season as music director of the BSO and that she will become Music Director Laureate and OrchKids Founder after that.
“With genius, humanity, and vision, Marin has led both on and off the podium, raising the standard for how the BSO uses the power of music to change lives,” said Peter Kjome, BSO President and CEO, in a statement announcing the events.
“She has instilled values that will continue to shape how we carry out our mission – through her transition to Music Director Laureate and OrchKids Founder next season and long into the future,” Kjome said. “We invite our community to join us as we salute her online and in-person.”
The tribute continues on May 27 at 7 p.m., when the Marin Festival opens with a virtual OrchKids concert in Alsop’s honor, entitled Daring Innovation. Alsop founded BSO OrchKids in 2008 to provide a year-round program that can nurture talented young musicians in Baltimore City and foster social change.
The Marin Festival will feature Alsop leading the final two episodes of Season 1 of its “BSO Sessions” series on June 9 and 16. Announced in the fall of 2020, the 30-episode docuseries combines storytelling with musical performances by “rarely heard voices in the classical repertoire.”
Also in June, the orchestra will have its first in-person performances since March 2020 when it puts on two free outdoor concerts around the BSO’s two homes, the Meyerhoff Symphony Hall in Baltimore and the Music Center at Strathmore in North Bethesda.
The outdoor concert in Baltimore is scheduled for Saturday, June 5, with Alsop as Music Director and Ji Su Jung playing the marimba. The outdoor concert at Strathmore will be on Saturday, June 12, with Alsop as Music Director and Maria Broom as narrator. Additional details will be provided closer to the live concerts, which are subject to local public health guidelines.
A one-night-only virtual Gala, live-streamed and emceed by the musician and BSO Artistic Partner known as Wordsmith, will close the Festival on Saturday, June 19, 2021, at 8:30 pm.
Alsop will lead the orchestra in her final concert as Music Director, performing at the Meyerhoff Symphony Hall. The gala will open with the world premiere of a new BSO commission by Baltimorean James Lee III in honor of Juneteenth, featuring narration by Wordsmith, also known as Anthony Parker.
In a combination of live and pre-recorded moments, OrchKids will join Alsop in Florence Price’s Adoration, and the evening will culminate with a performance by celebrated soprano Renée Fleming. Plans are underway to ensure widespread community participation through broadcast partners and free viewing hubs.
The BSO is inviting listeners to show “virtual applause” for Alsop by participating in Salute from Your Seat, an opportunity to help fill the hall’s 2,443 seats by buying or ‘gifting” fan cutouts, with all proceeds going to the OrchKids program. Audience members can also wish Alsop well in her tenure as Music Director Laureate and OrchKids Founder by signing a virtual guest book and posting on social media with the hashtag #MarinMilestones.
“Since my BSO debut in 2017, it has been a blessing to work side by side with Marin both on stage and in the community – she has always shown trust and faith in me and my work, and we’ve been able to challenge each other as musicians and advocates,” said Wordsmith, in a statement.
“Marin is a true champion of community and inclusion, and it is only fitting that our final performance together with her as Music Director be a collaboration with James Lee III in honor of Juneteenth.”
Full details of the BSO’s celebration of Marin Alsop are available at: BSOmusic.org/TheMarinFestival .
