In her second season at the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, music director Marin Alsop celebrates the legacy of composer Leonard Bernstein.
At a news conference Wednesday morning, Alsop blushed and covered her face as a video was shown of her nervously conducting alongside Bernstein in 1988.
“He became my personal hero not only as a conductor, but later as my teacher and mentor,” Alsop said.
The centerpiece of the 2008-2009 season will be Bernstein?s “Mass: A Theatre Piece for Singers, Players and Dancers.” Alsop said that the work encompasses what Bernstein stood for. “It?s completely inclusive, eclectic, accessible but transcendental, it incorporates technology ? and it?s a story with a moral embrace.”
The BSO also plans to pair the music of Bernstein with Austrian composer Gustav Mahler, whom Bernstein greatly admired, throughout the season.
Paul Meecham, president and chief executive officer of the BSO, commented on the stupendous success of last year?s subscription model ? $25 seats for subscribers. “[In Baltimore,] we are seeing four times the number of new subscriptions, we have a 14 percent growth overall of audience size, and we also have one of the highest subscription renewal rates at 94 percent,” he said.
The BSO will continue to offer $25 subscriber seats for the 2008-2009 season, with $50 premium seats, made possible by a $250,000 matching grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
Because of significant growth at the BSO?s Music Center at Strathmore ? subscription sales are up 34 percent ? the orchestra has expanded the Saturday subscription package, increasing from six to eight concerts for the 2008-2009 season. This will also be the first season that the BSO performs their annual Martin Luther King Jr. Birthday Celebration at Strathmore.
Legendary cellist Yo-Yo Ma will perform at the BSO?s season-opening gala concert, performing Tchaikovsky?s “Rococo Variations.”
A new four-concert series, “Off The Cuff,” will debut in Baltimore, hosted by Alsop, who will give audience members an in-depth look at demystifying classical music.
Alsop also promised a season that will continue to make classical music as accessible as possible to the community. “This idea of reaching out and welcoming the community into everything we are doing is very important to us here at the BSO, and one of our top priorities,” she said.
“One thing that Bernstein said was that every piece has a story, and it?s our responsibilityto get that story across to the audience,” Alsop said. “The musicians and I look forward to welcoming the Baltimore community.”
