Marin Alsop leads Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Morgan State University Choir in Too Hot to Handel: The Gospel Messiah, December 4-6

BSO performs Too Hot to Handel as part of Family Concert Series, December 6

Baltimore, Md. (November 14, 2008)- Marin Alsop will conduct the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and Morgan State University Choir in Too Hot to Handel: The Gospel Messiah on December 4 at the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, on December 5 at The Music Center at Strathmore and as part of the Family Series on December 6, also at the Meyerhoff. The New York Post described Too Hot to Handel as "the jazziest, most soulful reinterpretation of Handel's Messiah you'll ever hear." The piece features a dynamic line-up of solo vocalists, including legendary jazz singer Vaneese Thomas, classically trained lyric tenor Thomas Young and Broadway star Rozz Morehead. Gospel pianist Clifford Carter, bass player Mike Pope and drummer Clint de Ganon will join the BSO for this jazzy rendition. In addition, the BSO welcomes Too Hot to Handel co-arranger, Bob Christianson, performing on a Hammond B-3 Organ. See below for complete program information.

Originally premiered in 1992 at New York City's Avery Fischer Hall, Too Hot to Handel offers audiences a fresh twist on a familiar holiday favorite. Marin Alsop collaborated with Gary Anderson and Bob Christianson to create a revised version of Messiah that broke the traditional bounds of classical music. Maestra Alsop explains, "We started talking about this idea of re-envisioning Handel's work, such that the DNA of the piece remained the same-the melodies, harmonies, structure and text-however, it is all treated differently. We've expanded the traditional orchestra to include a full rhythm section, gospel piano, electric guitars and a Hammond B-3 jazz organ. It becomes an active listening experience, when you're allowed to stand up or clap your hands."   

Morgan State University Choir will lend their legendary energy to the piece. The MSU Choir was also Maestra Alsop's choir of choice when the work originally premiered. "I find it especially rewarding to collaborate with Morgan State University Choir. They are not only exceptional musicians, but they bring infectious energy to every piece they perform."

In addition, to engage younger audiences with the highlights of Too Hot to Handel, Marin Alsop will entertain Family Series patrons on December 6 at 11:00 a.m. with some kid-friendly conversations from the stage. (The Family Series' Too Hot to Handel will be a shorter performance, approximately 60 minutes.)


Marin Alsop, conductor
Hailed as one of the world's leading conductors for her artistic vision and commitment to accessibility in classical music, Marin Alsop made history with her appointment as the 12th music director of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. With her inaugural concerts in September 2007, she became the first woman to head a major American orchestra, which mirrored her ongoing success in the United Kingdom, where she served as the Principal Conductor of the Bournemouth Symphony from 2002-2008 and now holds the title of Conductor Emeritus.

In 2005, Marin Alsop was named a MacArthur Fellow, the first conductor ever to receive this prestigious award. In 2007, she was honored with a European Women of Achievement Award and in 2008 she was inducted as a fellow into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Maestra Alsop is a regular guest conductor with the New York Philharmonic, The Philadelphia Orchestra, Chicago Symphony and Los Angeles Philharmonic. She also appears frequently as a guest conductor with many distinguished orchestras worldwide. After a highly successful 12-year tenure as music director of the Colorado Symphony, Ms. Alsop continues her association as conductor laureate. She also continues as music director of the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music in California.

Marin Alsop attended Yale University and received her master's degree from The Juilliard School. In 1989, her conducting career was launched when she became a prizewinner at the Leopold Stokowski International Conducting Competition.

Morgan State University Choir - Dr. Eric Conway, director
The Morgan State University (MSU) Choir is one of the nation's most prestigious university choral ensembles. While classical, gospel and contemporary popular music comprise the choir's repertoire, the choir is noted for its emphasis on preserving the heritage of the spiritual, especially in the historic practices of performance. The MSU Choir has performed for audiences throughout the United States and all over the world. They have appeared at The Kennedy Center, Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall on numerous occasions. The MSU Choir's most recent performance at Carnegie Hall was with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra in a performance of Leonard Bernstein's Mass. They have performed with the New York Philharmonic, The Philadelphia Orchestra, the Buffalo, Baltimore, Knoxville and National symphony orchestras. The Choir has performed with Jessye Norman under the baton of Robert Shaw, conducting the Orchestra of St. Luke's in Carnegie Hall's 100th Birthday Tribute to Marian Anderson. At the personal invitation of Secretary of State Condeleeza Rice, the choir performed for the State Department for their annual African American History Month Celebration. In October 2005, the Morgan State University Choir sang for the service honoring Rosa Parks, who became the first woman to lie in honor at our nation's Capitol Rotunda. In August 2007, the Choir completed a tour of Ghana and performed at the invitation of the U.S. Ambassador to Ghana to celebrate its 50th year of Independence. In May 2004, Reader's Digest named the MSU Choir "the Best College Choir in the U.S." in its list of "America's 100 Best."

Rozz Morehead, vocals
Rozz Morehead has appeared on Broadway in Urban Cowboy, Big River and Once on This Island. Her off-Broadway credits include Tapestry and Beehive. She has performed the role of Paquette in the Guthrie Theatre's critically-acclaimed production of Candide, Lorrell in Dreamgirls, and Aida in Aida. Her voice was featured in the animated film and soundtrack of Santa Baby and several episodes of the new children's animated series "The Wonder Pets" on Nick Jr. Ms. Morehead received national attention as a finalist on "Star Search" in 1986. She recorded and toured with Moby as the featured vocalist on the hit dance records Move and Everytime You Touch Me. She co-wrote the title cut, "Home for Christmas" for N'sync, selling over two million copies. 

Vaneese Thomas, vocals
Vaneese Thomas, the daughter of legendary R&B musician Rufus Thomas, has cultivated her own style of R&B, gospel, blues and jazz. Ms. Thomas has worked with an array of internationally known performers including Luciano Pavarotti, Sting, Stevie Wonder, Natalie Cole, B.B. King, Eric Clapton, Luther Vandross, Michael Jackson, Chaka Kahn, Joe Cocker, Celine Dion, Annie Lennox and Patti LaBelle.  She has performed in Europe, Asia, and in the United States at concerts and festivals, including the Pavarotti & Friends 2002 for Angola concerts in Modena, Italy; the Porretta Soul Festival; the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland; the Michael Jackson & Friends concert with Luther Vandross in Seoul, Korea and Munich, Germany; and with Japanese Jazz Saxophonist Sadao Watanabe. In addition to her concert and studio work, Ms. Thomas has lent her voice to characters, movie soundtracks and television, including Disney's Hercules as the voice of Clio the Muse, Goddess of History (1997); Anastasia (1997); Mighty Aphrodite (1995); The First Wives Club (1996); Everyone Says I Love You (1996); and the Oscar-nominated Seraglio (2000), among others. 

Thomas Young, vocals
Lyric tenor Thomas Young has appeared as a principal soloist in the major concert halls and opera houses of some 20 countries, and under the baton of Zubin Mehta, Roger Norrington, Simon Rattle and Esa-Pekka Salonen. In addition to his distinguished performance career, Mr. Young serves as a tenured professor of music at Sarah Lawrence College. His recent engagements include touring, recording and performing as part of the well known ensemble Three Mo' Tenors and now as Cook Dixon & Young; Michael Tipett's A Child of our Time; Poulenc's Les Mamelles de Tiresias with the Los Angeles Philharmonic; Kurt Weill's Street Scene in the role of Sam Kaplan with the Radio Symphony Orchestra Berlin; Stravinsky's The Flood at Carnegie Hall with the London Sinfonietta; Bernstein's Mass as the Celebrant with the Cincinnati Orchestra; Verdi's Requiem with the Colorado Symphony; and a staged production of Tan Dun's Marco Polo in the role of Polo at the Zagreb Bennale in Croatia. Mr. Young's recordings include the Grammy-nominated X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X; John Adams' Grammy-nominated The Death of Klinghoffer; Tan Dun's Marco Polo named Opera of the Year by Opera Magazine; and George Gershwin's Blue Monday. Most recently, he can be heard on the Grammy award winning recording of William Bolcom's Songs of Innocence and Experience.

Bob Christianson, Hammond B-3 organ
This past year, Bob Christianson has been busy co-scoring the television show "Life Is Wild" (CW) with multi-platinum artist Maurice White of Earth, Wind & Fire fame. His new musical, Take Me America (book and lyrics by Bill Nabel), was presented at the Midtown Manhattan Theater Festival this summer, and took several major prizes, including Best New Musical. Mr. Christianson was also the most called upon composer for the HBO series, "Sex And The City." He was nominated for an Emmy for his music for ABC Sports, and has scored many series for the Discovery family of networks. He has also written over 25 award winning sports themes for CBS, ESPN & ABC. With his writing partner, Cappy Caposella, he has written the ground-breaking new rock musical entitled Grail. Mr. Christianson started in New York as musical director/conductor for such Broadway shows as Godspell, Gilda Radner-Live From New York and The Magic Show. His film credits include Vibrations, Machiavelli Rises, Mindbender and Kounterfeit.

Clifford Carter, piano
Keyboardist and composer Clifford Carter has blazed his mark in the worlds of jazz, pop, rock 'n' roll and gospel. Mr. Carter has performed and recorded with legendary artists including Paul Simon, James Taylor, Natalie Cole, Bette Midler and Carly Simon. His songs have been recorded by Michael Franks, Phyllis Hyman, Vanessa Williams and The Four Tops. He owns Secret Road Studios, a versatile production environment, where he plays, writes, arranges and produces. Most recently, Mr. Carter has toured Europe with Bill Evans, appeared with the Ralph MacDonald Band at the Pan Royal Festival in Trinidad, performed a three-week engagement at the Oak Room at the Algonquin with Broadway star Melissa Errico, recorded and arranged for Kiss drummer Peter Criss and toured the Czech Republic and Slovac Republic with singer-songwriter Richard Muller. Every year since 1993, Carter has been a featured pianist in the performance of Too Hot To Handel with several orchestras and also appeared on the live recording.

Mike Pope, bass
Mike Pope earned a bachelors degree in jazz studies performance through North Texas State University's prestigious jazz program. Since 1993, Mr. Pope has become a fixture on the New York jazz scene. He has performed or recorded with some of the world's most venerated musicians including Michael and Randy Brecker, Mike Stern, Joe Locke, Chuck Loeb, Steve Smith and Jeff "Tain" Watts. He has also toured internationally as a member of several high-profile projects including Chick Corea's Elektric Band, David Sanborn, The Manhattan Transfer and Bill Bruford's Earthworks. Mr. Pope has merged his precise technical command of acoustic upright and electric bass with his composing and arranging skills on two projects, Walk Your Dogma (1997) and The Lay Of The Land (2002).

Clint de Ganon, drums
In 2008, Clint de Ganon completed a month-long tour in Europe with the legendary singer Art Garfunkel, and he continues his year-round performance schedule with pop diva Linda Eder. He also recorded the just-released Phoebe Snow Live, recorded with critically-acclaimed jazz guitarist John Basile, and worked with five-time Grammy winner Christopher Cross. Mr. de Ganon has played on more than 1,000 recording sessions and 75 tours including Billy Preston, The Blues Brothers, Kid Rock, Edgar Winter, Bob James, David Pack, Dionne Warwick, Mark Cohn, Ann-Margret, Christine Ebersole, Judy Collins, Cissy Houston, Fantasia, Tom Scott, Michael Franks and the Saturday Night Live Band. Mr. de Ganon is known for his work with the late Hiram Bullock. For seven years, the power trio consisted of the singing and playing of Hiram, Mr. de Ganon and David Letterman's bassist Will Lee.

COMPLETE PROGRAM INFORMATION
Symphony with a Twist™: Too Hot to Handel: The Gospel Messiah
Thursday, December 4, 2008 at 8:00 p.m. -Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall
Friday, December 5, 2008 at 8:00 p.m. -The Music Center at Strathmore

Family Concert Series:  (Recommended for children ages 7 and up)
Saturday, December 6, 2008 at 11 a.m. - Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall

Marin Alsop, conductor
Morgan State University Choir
     Eric Conway, director
Vaneese Thomas, vocals
Rozz Morehead, vocals
Thomas Young, vocals
Bob Christianson, Hammond B-3 Organ
Clifford Carter, piano
Mike Pope, bass
Clint de Ganon, drums

Co-arranged and orchestrated by Bob Christianson & Gary Anderson; concept by Marin Alsop.
 
Tickets for these performances range from $20 to $80, with reduced rate Family Concert Series tickets available for Saturday morning. Tickets are available through the BSO Ticket Office, 877.BSO.1444, 410.783.8000 or BSOmusic.org.
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