Baltimore Symphony Orchestra Kicks off Summer Season with Star-Spangled Spectacular, July 3-5

Patriotic hits, great food and fireworks create the perfect ambience for a family night out

Baltimore, Md. (June 17, 2008)— The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra will kick off its 2008 summer season at Oregon Ridge Park in Cockeysville on July 3, 4, and 5 with the Star-Spangled Spectacular, an all-American salute to our nation’s founding. Guest conductor Constantine Kitsopoulos will lead the BSO in classical patriotic favorites including Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture and Sousa’s Stars and Stripes Forever. Each concert will begin with the National Anthem led by winners of the BSO’s “Oh, Say Can You Sing” competition and end with a dazzling fireworks display. See below for complete program information.

With more than 60 contestants auditioning for the chance to sing the national anthem alongside the BSO, 9-year-old Maya Goldman of Columbia and 13-year-old Vibav Mouli of Reisterstown snagged the coveted position. Goldman will perform on July 3 and 4 and Mouli will perform on July 5. Additional program highlights include “An American Hymn” and Shenandoah featuring bass-baritone Robert Cantrell and The Gettysburg Address, an original orchestral score by BSO bassist Jonathan Jensen to accompany the reading of the famous Abraham Lincoln speech.

For more than 20 years, the BSO at Oregon Ridge has been a Baltimore-area summer tradition, drawing tens of thousands for family fun, music and fireworks in the wooded enclaves of the Cockeysville, Md. park. Concertgoers are invited to bring lawn chairs, blankets and picnic dinners for a full evening of entertainment with the BSO. Gates will open at 5:00 p.m. Patrons are invited to come early and enjoy dinner, drinks and desserts from local venders, as well as family activities at the BSO’s Family Fun Zone with face painting, games and an inflatable moon-bounce. Each concert begins at 8:00 p.m. and concludes with a brilliant fireworks display.

Constantine Kitsopoulos, conductor
Constantine Kitsopoulos is a conductor whose musical experiences span the worlds of opera and symphony. Mr. Kitsopoulos is in his second season as music director of the Queens Symphony Orchestra and continues as general director of Chatham Opera, which he founded in 2005. In the 2007-2008 season, he returned to the Detroit, Hartford and Milwaukee symphonies and debuted with the Mobile, Princeton and Virginia symphonies.

In addition to his orchestral and classical commitments, Mr. Kitsopoulos is much in demand as a theatre conductor, both on Broadway and nationwide. In 2006-2007, he conducted the Tony-nominated Broadway musical Coram Boy and the American Conservatory Theatre's production of Kurt Weill's Happy End, for which he recorded the cast album at Skywalker Ranch. He is currently conductor and musical director of A Catered Affair on Broadway. He also served as music director and principal conductor of Baz Luhrmann’s highly acclaimed production of Puccini’s La Bohème.

Robert Cantrell, bass-baritone
Robert Cantrell has been described by The Washington Post critic Joseph McLellan as “a warm supple voice that brought out the lyrical intentions of the composers making them treasured moments.” During the 2007-2008 season, Mr. Cantrell was bass soloist for the Baltimore Choral Arts Society’s concert tour in France and appeared in the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra’s Holiday Spectacular. His opera roles included Commendatore in Mozart’s Don Giovanni, Monterone in Verdi’s Rigoletto, Orestes’ Tutor in Strauss’ Elektra with Washington National Opera and Tobit in Jonathan Dove’s Tobias and the Angel with Opera Vivente. He was bass soloist in Beethoven’s Ninth with the Johns Hopkins Symphony and York Symphony Orchestras.

Other career highlights include a tour of Japan in 2002 with the Washington National Opera, his European operatic debut at the Spoleto Festival dei Due Mondi in Italy, Porgy and Bess at the Bregenz Festspielhaus in Austria, Copland’s Old American Songs with the Loudoun Symphony and the role of the Moorish Envoy, his debut with the Washington National Opera starring legendary tenor Placido Domingo on PBS. Mr. Cantrell is on the voice faculty at the Baltimore School for the Arts and is bass soloist at Grace United Methodist Church.

COMPLETE PROGRAM INFORMATION
Summer Nights: Star-Spangled Spectacular
Thursday, July 3, 2008 at 8:00 p.m.—Oregon Ridge Park, Cockeysville, Md.
Friday, July 4, 2008 at 8:00 p.m.—Oregon Ridge Park
Saturday, July 5, 2008 at 8:00 p.m.—Oregon Ridge Park
Rain date: Sunday, July 27 at 8:00 p.m.

Constantine Kitsopoulos, conductor
Robert Cantrell, bass-baritone

John Stafford Smith: Star-Spangled Banner
John Williams: Sound the Bells!
Kenneth J. Alford: Colonel Bogey March
Arr. Constantine Kitsopoulos: Armed Forces Salute          
Ferde Grofé: Selections from Mississippi Suite           
Lee Holdridge: "An American Hymn" from East of Eden  
Traditional: Shenandoah  
Tchaikovsky: 1812, Overture solonelle, opus 49
Copland: An Outdoor Overture
Jonathan Jensen: The Gettysburg Address  
Gershwin: Overture to Strike Up the Band
Sousa: Washington Post March
Sousa: Liberty Bell March  
Sousa: Stars and Stripes Forever   


Oregon Ridge Parking and Shuttle Service
July 3 and 4: Free parking and shuttle service are available at the Verizon parking lot on Shawan Road to and from Oregon Ridge. Limited on-site parking is available with a $10 permit, which may be purchased in advance through the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra Ticket Office, 410.783.8000, 877.BSO.1444 or BSOmusic.org. On-site parking is also available for $15 at the gate.

July 5: Free onsite parking is available. There will be no shuttle.

Tickets
• Advance tickets are $18 for adults and $9 for children under 12 at the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra Ticket Office, 410.783.8000, 877.BSO.1444 or BSOmusic.org.
• If purchased at the gate, tickets are $20 for adults and $10 for children under 12.
 

Sponsors
Summer Nights at Oregon Ridge is presented by Aegon, with media sponsorship provided by 101.9 Lite FM, The Baltimore Sun and WBAL TV. The Star-Spangled Spectacular program is sponsored by Lockheed Martin.
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