Associate Concertmaster Madeline Adkins Performs Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto, November 15-18

Program also features Arild Remmereit leading Orchestra in Schumann's First Symphony and Berwald's Tragic Overture

Baltimore, Md. (October 22, 2007)-Baltimore Symphony Orchestra Associate Concertmaster Madeline Adkins will perform the solo in Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto, November 15 at the Music Center at Strathmore and November 16-18 at the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall. Led by Norwegian conductor Arild Remmereit, who received rave reviews in 2005 when he filled in for the BSO's Music Director Emeritus Yuri Temirkanov, the program also features Schumann's Symphony No. 1 "Spring" and Berwald's Tragic Overture. See below for complete program information.

Felix Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto was nine years in the making. In 1835, the composer promised Ferdinand David, concertmaster with the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, a concerto tailor-made to showcase his artistry. Regarded as one of the best concertos written for the violin, Mendelssohn broke with standard concerto form by introducing the violin immediately and by composing bridges to seamlessly connect the work's three movements.

Robert Schumann created the melody for Symphony No. 1 in just four days, with its full orchestration only taking one month to complete. Inspired by a poem about a lover longing for spring, Schumann wrote his first symphony to express the new beginning that springtime evokes. The four movements, "Beginning of Spring," "Evening," "Jolly Playmates" and "Spring at its Height," reflect the overwhelming joy Schumann felt while eagerly anticipating the birth of his first child.

Though largely ignored during his lifetime, Franz Berwald is now recognized as one of the most original composers in the 19th century. Influenced by his contemporaries, Berwald's music was too advanced and eccentric for others to appreciate. His opera Estrella de Soria premiered in 1862 at the Stockholm Royal Opera, but was not performed there again until 1946. With its unorthodox harmonic and formal procedures, Estrella de Soria loosely follows a traditional sonata form, showcasing the violin, flute and oboe. The opera's Tragic Overture remains Berwald's most performed work. These concerts mark the BSO premiere of this work.

Arild Remmereit, conductor
Norwegian-born conductor Arild Remmereit took his first piano lesson at the age of six, his first trumpet lesson at eight and also enjoyed a career as a boy soprano. Later he joined pop and jazz bands playing keyboards. In 1986, he graduated from the Norwegian Conservatory of Music in Oslo where he studied piano and composition. He graduated from Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst in Vienna in 1992 under the direction of Prof. Karl Österreicher.

Remmereit studied with Leonard Bernstein at Santa Cecilia in Rome and worked with in a recording studio in Vienna. He also worked with Myung-Whun Chung at the Norwegian Opera in Oslo, the National Opera in Paris and Mariss Jansons in Vienna.

Simultaneously, Remmereit conducted the Wiener Residenz Orchester, was Artistic Director at the Ukrainian State Opera in Kharkov and conducted the National Philharmonic Orchestra in Kiev. He led these ensembles on tours through Austria, Germany, the Netherlands and Switzerland. His work with jazz musicians, including Joe Zawinul and singer Maria Joao, shows a versatile repertoire.

Madeline Adkins, violin
In April 2005, Madeline Adkins was appointed to the position of Associate Concertmaster of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra by Music Director Emeritus Yuri Temirkanov. She joined the orchestra in 2000 as Assistant Concertmaster and has appeared frequently as soloist with the BSO, performing works by Beethoven, Vaughan Williams, Bach, Vivaldi and Prokofiev. Other recent engagements include a recital for the "Embassy Series" at the Romanian Embassy in Washington, DC.

Madeline Adkins received her bachelor's degree summa cum laude from the University of North Texas and her master's from the New England Conservatory where she studied with James Buswell. She has served as guest concertmaster of the Hong Kong Philharmonic, the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra and the Oregon Symphony, as well as concertmaster of the Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra under Seiji Ozawa. Adkins has won first prize in the Stulberg International String Competition, the ASTA National Solo Competition and the New England Conservatory Concerto Competition, among others. Since 1989, Adkins has been active in early music, and currently performs with Pro Musica Rara of Baltimore.

The daughter of noted musicologists, Adkins is the youngest of eight children, including four violinists, two cellists and a soprano. In 1994, the Adkins String Ensemble debuted in the Dallas Symphony's Meyerson Hall, a performance that was described by the Dallas Morning News as one of its "Top Ten Concerts of the Year." The group presents an annual chamber music series in Dallas.

COMPLETE PROGRAM INFORMATION
Favorites Series (Meyerhoff)/Classical Thursdays (Strathmore): Mendelssohn Violin Concerto
Thursday, November 15, 2007 at 8:00 p.m.-The Music Center at Strathmore *
Friday, November 16, 2007 at 8:00 p.m.-JMSH
Saturday, November 17, 2007 at 8:00 p.m.-JMSH
Sunday, November 18, 2007 at 3:00 p.m.-JMSH

Arild Remmereit, conductor 
Madeline Adkins, violin  Berwald: Tragic Overture (BSO premiere)
Mendelssohn: Violin Concerto
Schumann: Symphony No. 1 "Spring"

*The November 15 concert at the Music Center at Strathmore is preceded by Music Notes Live!, a free pre-concert lecture series hosted by David Ginder. Music Notes Live! begins at 7:00 p.m. and admission is on a first come, first served basis.

Special anniversary pricing at the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall is made possible by generous underwriting from the PNC Foundation.

WYPR is the media sponsor for these concerts.

Tickets for these concerts range from $15 to $84 and are available through the BSO Ticket Office, 877.BSO.1444 or 410.783.8000, or BSOmusic.org.

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