Marin Alsop Leads the BSO and Principal Flute Emily Skala in John Corigliano’s Pied Piper Fantasy, March 31 and April 3

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BSO OrchKids perform world premiere of David Rimelis’ OrchKids Nation with 20% of single ticket sales to benefit OrchKids

BSO Music Director Marin Alsop will lead the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra (BSO), Principal Flute Emily Skala and the Peabody Preparatory Flute and Drum Ensemble in a performance of John Corigliano’s Pied Piper Fantasy on Thursday, March 31 at 8 p.m. and Sunday, April 3 at 3 p.m. at the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall. The BSO will collaborate with OrchKids—the BSO’s music and life enrichment program for youth in West Baltimore—for the world premiere of a BSO commission by David Rimelis, OrchKids Nation. Also on the program is Prokofiev’s Cinderella Suite. In recognition of the OrchKids’ participation, 20% of the proceeds from single tickets sold (tickets not sold on subscription) will be donated to the BSO’s OrchKids program.

John Corigliano’s semi-staged flute concerto, Pied Piper Fantasy, is a re-creation of the legend of the Pied Piper of Hamelin, who endeavored to lead a town’s rats away to destruction. This work was first heard in Baltimore over two decades ago, led by former Music Director David Zinman and featuring James Galway, the dedicatee. BSO Principal Flute Emily Skala will perform Corigliano’s virtuosic Fantasy. The composer explains his inspiration, “The idea of a programmatic fantasy concerto based on the Pied Piper legend became a fascinating structural challenge. ...The biggest problem was that the legend per se had no elements of virtuosity in it. So I had to modify the story a bit ...In restructuring the legend, I had to provide a logical continuity for this story, but I also had to produce a satisfying purely musical structure. ... Inherent in my concept was the idea that the soloist would switch from flute to tin whistle for ‘The Children’s March.’ I also wanted the march to include other flutes and drums played by children and led by the soloist. I used the jaunty march against an independent orchestral background that evoked the sense of loss generated by the departure of the Piper and children...”

The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra’s OrchKids program is currently is its fourth year and serves nearly 300 pre-K through 3rd grade students with music training, tutoring, life enrichment activities and nutritious meals five days per week. OrchKids will join the BSO to perform the BSO commission by New Jersey-based composer David Rimelis, OrchKids Nation. Mr. Rimelis drew inspiration from the OrchKids for the piece. He derives the song’s lyrics from testimonials from the students and he drew the work’s percussive elements from the dance rhythms of the OrchKids Bucket Band. Another section highlights the interplay of the OrchKids Rap with a vocal call-and-response. The commissioning of OrchKids Nation is generously made possible by a grant from Classical Movements, Inc. through the Eric Daniel Helms New Music Program.

Prokofiev’s colorful and romantic ballet score for the timeless fairy tale, Cinderella, is modelled after the ballet classics of Tchaikovsky. The Kirov Ballet Theatre in Leningrad originally commissioned the work in 1941, following the success of Romeo and Juliet, but as the advancing German army besieged Leningrad, Prokofiev was evacuated and unable to complete the work for the city. When the war ended, Leningrad lay in ruins and the premiere was moved to the Bolshoi Ballet theatre in Moscow in 1945 where it was received enthusiastically.

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