Marin Alsop (born October 16, 1956) is an American conductor and violinist. She is the current music director of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra.
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Early life and education
Alsop was born in New York City to professional musician parents. She attended Yale University, but later transferred to the Juilliard School, where she earned her bachelor's and master's degrees, both in violin. She founded the string ensemble String Fever in 1981. She won the Koussevitzky Prize as outstanding student conductor at the Tanglewood Music Center in 1989, where she studied under Leonard Bernstein, Seiji Ozawa, and Gustav Meier, among others.
Early career
Alsop has been music director of the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music in Santa Cruz, California since 1991. The festival specializes in contemporary orchestral music. From 1993 to 2005, she was music director of the Colorado Symphony Orchestra, initially starting with the title principal conductor. She is now the orchestra's conductor laureate. She has also served as music director of the Eugene Symphony in Eugene, Oregon. She was associate conductor of the Richmond Symphony in Richmond, Virginia from 1988 to 1990. On September 20, 2005, Alsop became the first conductor ever to receive the MacArthur Fellowship.
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
In July 2005, Alsop was named the music director of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra (BSO). Alsop became BSO's Music Director Designate in the 2006-2007 concert season, and in the 2007–2008 season, she assumed the orchestra's directorship, thus becoming its 12th music director. Her selection is noteworthy because Alsop is the first woman to lead a major American orchestra. The decision to appoint Alsop was surrounded in controversy when it became apparent that some of the orchestra's members were opposed to the manner in which management handled the appointment, the fact that they were excluded from the music director search process. However, the orchestra and Alsop met after the announcement and smoothed over their differences.[1][2] In June 2009, the orchestra announced the extension of her contract for another five years through August 2015.[3]
Since officially assuming the music director post at the Baltimore Symphony in September 2007, Alsop's initiatives with the Baltimore Symphony have included the "Webumentary Film Series" and a free iTunes podcast, "Clueless About Classical." She recently announced a new education after-school program call "OrchKids", in which underprivileged children from Baltimore will receive free music instruction, based on Venezuela's El Sistema program.
Europe
In the UK, Alsop has served as principal guest conductor with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra and with the City of London Sinfonia.[4] Alsop became Principal Conductor of the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra in 2002 and served in the post until 2008.[5] She was voted Gramophone magazine's Artist of the Year in 2003 and won the Royal Philharmonic Society's conductor's award in the same season. In April 2007, Alsop was one of eight conductors of British orchestras to endorse the 10-year classical music outreach manifesto, "Building on Excellence: Orchestras for the 21st Century", to increase the presence of classical music in the UK, including giving free entry to all British schoolchildren to a classical music concert.[6] Alsop received an honorary degree of Doctor of Music from Bournemouth University on 7 November 2007.
Alsop is noted for her advocacy and interpretations of American music, but is establishing her reputation in the core symphonic repertory as well. She is the first woman to record the complete cycle of symphonies by Brahms (recorded with the London Philharmonic for Naxos Records). She is also the first woman conductor to have recorded a Mahler symphony with a major orchestra, the Fifth Symphony with the London Symphony Orchestra on the LSO Live label.
References
- ^ Lev Grossman (25 July 2005). "A Symphony of Her Own". Time. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1086150,00.html. Retrieved 2007-09-07.
- ^ Daniel J. Wakin (9 October 2005). "Best Wishes on Your Job. Now Get Out.". New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/09/arts/music/09waki.html?ei=5090&en=3c391a6c007e936e&ex=1286510400&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss&pagewanted=print. Retrieved 2007-09-07.
- ^ Anne Midgette (5 June 2009). "Baltimore Symphony Extends Music Director's Contract to 2015". Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/04/AR2009060404314.html. Retrieved 2009-06-05.
- ^ Geoffrey Norris (22 March 2001). "Beating time and space on the way to the top". Telegraph. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2001/03/22/bmarin22.xml. Retrieved 2008-04-19.
- ^ "'I don’t need to be liked, I’d rather be respected'". The Times. 9 February 2007. http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/music/article1354073.ece. Retrieved 2007-09-08.
- ^ Charlotte Higgins (26 April 2007). "Orchestras urge free concerts for children". The Guardian. http://education.guardian.co.uk/artinschools/story/0,,2066195,00.html. Retrieved 2007-09-08.
External links
- www.marinalsop.com – her official website
- Baltimore Symphony Orchestra homepage
- Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music homepage
- MacArthur Fellowship biography page
- biography and discography at Naxos.com
- Alsop on Music (NPR)
- NewMusicBox cover: Marin Alsop in conversation with Frank J. Oteri, April 25, 2006 (includes video)
| Preceded by Philippe Entremont (Denver Symphony) |
Music Director, Colorado Symphony Orchestra 1993-2005 |
Succeeded by Jeffrey Kahane |
| Preceded by Yakov Kreizberg |
Principal Conductor, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra 2002-2008 |
Succeeded by Kirill Karabits |
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