Baltimore Symphony Orchestra & Marin Alsop Announce 2009-2010 Season

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Season-long theme fosters self-exploration of musical roots and region's ethnic diversity

The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and Music Director Marin Alsop announced today the Orchestra's 2009-2010 season, the third full season under the direction of Maestra Alsop. The 2009-2010 season is a pastiche of musical influences from around the world and from within local communities. In this dramatic season, the concert programs are generated by Marin Alsop's mission to encourage audiences to explore their own musical roots and pay tribute to the diverse heritages found in the Baltimore-Washington area. From a U.S. premiere from Finland, to a discovery of traditional Eastern European music; from a program called España that dances with rhythmic intensity, to an evening with soprano Kathleen Battle that captures the spiritual roots of the African-American experience—the upcoming season is devoted to drawing cultural connections beyond the context of the concert hall.

"I've always been fascinated by what musical elements draw us to a specific composer or music from a specific era or region," comments Marin Alsop. "Clearly there are musical idioms—nationalistic, cultural and generational—that truly resonate with a listener and often that association is because the music is reflective of our own cultural lineage. A particularly Bohemian-sounding passage of music from a Dvorák symphony to a jazz riff that emerges in Gershwin's music—this epitomizes for me the cultural soul contained within so much of the symphonic repertoire. This season, the BSO will celebrate the diverse range of ethnicities found in our programs and in our communities. Our 'roots-inspired' theme will infuse every aspect of the 2009-2010 season, on stage and off."

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