BALTIMORE (WJZ) – The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra is one of the best in the world. For the past 14 years it has performed under the direction of music director Marin Alsop.
When Alsop was appointed in 2007, she made international headlines as the first woman to hold the post with a major American symphony orchestra. Now Alsop has announced that she will step down from this post in August.
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WJZ met with the maestra as she reflected on how she and the orchestra have grown and changed during her tenure.
“You have one of the great orchestras here in Baltimore, and I feel like I made a huge contribution to that,” said Alsop. “The artistic level that we have achieved and the technical level of the orchestra that it achieves can really rival the great orchestras in the world.”
And Alsop would have reason to know.
She has conducted many of the greatest orchestras that play today. She is also music director of the Sao Paulo Symphony Orchestra, the Vienna Radio Orchestra, and made history when she was named first conductor of the BBC Last Night of the Proms.
Alsop was born to the parents of musicians and played the violin as a child. However, she found her calling under her mentor, teacher, friend and tutor Leonard Bernstein.
Today she has over 100 award-winning recordings, two honorary doctorates, and is the only female conductor to have received the MacArthur Fellowship.
She is also the central theme in a new documentary, “We Conduct,” which follows her in her pioneering role as a woman in the traditionally male-dominated world of classical music.
“I survived it. And not only did I survive, I didn’t mind being the person who survived, ”said Alsop. “I think I’m tough enough and strong enough and that’s what was needed at that moment.”
“We Conduct” premieres at the Tribeca Film Festival this summer.
Shortly after Marin moved to Baltimore in 2007, she founded Orch Kids, a group that provides musical instruments and lessons for the city’s children who otherwise might never have the opportunity to play music.
It all came about when she asked a question: what would happen if we gave these children a chance?
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“And I was blown away by what could happen and what happened,” she said. “We started in 2008 with 30 first graders and today over 2,000 children play musical instruments at a very, very, very exceptional level.”
“I hope that maybe in twenty years the first Orch Kid wins an audition to join the Baltimore Symphony and then the community and some sort of artistic excellence come together, and that is my hope.” Alsop added.
The past year has been extremely difficult for Marin and all of the BSO musicians as they couldn’t perform for a live audience. It’s something that they really missed.
“It’s not just missing. It almost feels like we’re mourning our audience because that’s what we’re training for, ”she said. “That’s what we work for, in the moment when the music comes to life and when the audience is there.”
“Music has the ability to set us free. To connect us, ”said Alsop.
If she resigns as Music Director in August, Marin will continue to serve as BSO Music Director Laureate, conducting three concerts per year, directing Orch Kids and continuing to teach conductors at the Peabody Conservatory.
However, this is the end of a chapter.
“It is a time of change. But I don’t know that change is always exciting, ”she said. “And I have so much joy in my life from what I do, from my family, from my friends, you know I feel that, I feel that appreciation every day when I get up. I am lucky.”
And Baltimore and the BSO are fortunate enough to have enjoyed their talents for fourteen years.
The BSO is celebrating Marin with the ‘Marin Festival’, which starts on Thursday evening, May 27th, with a free, virtual concert by the Orch Kids.
It continues throughout the month of June with a series of free live outdoor concerts, the first indoor concert in over a year, virtual appearances and much more. A full schedule can be found at BSOmusic.org/TheMarinFestival.
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