Broadway Star Linda Eder to Perform Judy Garland Songbook with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Jan. 28-31

BSO SuperPops Conductor Jack Everly leads Linda Eder and the BSO in “Almost Like Being in Love,” “Over the Rainbow” and other favorites

Baltimore, Md. (December 11, 2009) – BSO Principal Pops Conductor Jack Everly, internationally-acclaimed Broadway star Linda Eder and the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra will perform a special tribute to the Judy Garland songbook on Thursday, January 28 through Saturday, January 30 at 8 p.m. and on Sunday, January 31 at 3 p.m. Thursday’s performance will take place at The Music Center at Strathmore, and the other three performances will be held at Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall. Winner of the Drama Desk Award in 1996, Linda Eder will perform memorable hits from the Judy Garland songbook, including “Almost Like Being in Love,” “It Never Was You,” “By Myself,” “The Trolley Song” and “Over the Rainbow.” Please see below for complete concert details.

Judy Garland was an Academy Award-winning American vocalist and actress. As a child, she performed the Vaudeville circuit, and later was signed by film producer Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Garland is most famous for her role as Dorothy in the classic The Wizard of Oz (1939). It was in this role that Garland sang the beloved “Over the Rainbow,” one of the most popular songs in the American songbook. In 1997, she was posthumously awarded a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.

Linda Eder is an American vocalist and actress who grew up in Brainerd, Minnesota. As a vocalist, she has performed to sold-out audiences in venues across the nation, including Carnegie Hall. Eder’s concerts have been broadcasted on Bravo and PBS and she has nine solo albums, with a tenth in the works.

Jack Everly, conductor
Jack Everly is the principal pops conductor of the Baltimore and Indianapolis symphony orchestras, Naples Philharmonic Orchestra and National Arts Centre Orchestra (Ottawa). He is widely known for his innovative approach to programs that have brought new audiences to the time-tested and beloved symphonic pops genre. This season he makes his Cleveland Orchestra debut at Blossom Music Center and appears as guest conductor in Pittsburgh, Milwaukee, Toronto, Cincinnati and Detroit.

Mr. Everly is the Music Director of Yuletide Celebration, now a 24-year tradition. These theatrical symphonic holiday concerts are presented annually in December in Indianapolis and are seen by more than 40,000 concert-goers. Mr. Everly led the ISO in its first Pops recording, Yuletide Celebration, Volume One, including three of his own arrangements.

Originally appointed by Mikhail Baryshnikov, Mr. Everly was conductor of the American Ballet Theatre for 14 years, where he served as music director. In addition to his ABT tenure, he has teamed with Marvin Hamlisch in Broadway shows that Mr. Hamlisch scored including The Goodbye Girl, They’re Playing Our Song and A Chorus Line. He conducted Carol Channing hundreds of times in Hello, Dolly! in two separate Broadway productions.

In television and film, Jack Everly has appeared on “In Performance at the White House” and conducted the songs for Disney’s animated classic The Hunchback of Notre Dame. He has been music director on numerous Broadway cast recordings, and conducted the critically praised, Everything’s Coming Up Roses: The Complete Overtures of Broadway’s Jule Styne. A CD released in July 2005, In the Presence, features tenor Daniel Rodriguez with the Czech Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra of Prague conducted by Mr. Everly.

In 1998, Mr. Everly created the Symphonic Pops Consortium serving as music director. The Consortium, based in Indianapolis, produces a new theatrical pops program each season providing a superior quality artistic program for all. In the past nine years, more than 225 performances of SPC programs have taken place in 25 cities across the U.S. and Canada. This season’s world premiere will be Mysterioso: Music, Magic, Mayhem & Mirth.

In May 2009, Maestro Everly received an Honorary Doctorate of Arts from Franklin College in his home state of Indiana.

Linda Eder, vocalist
Linda Eder, a Minnesota farm girl, has captivated audiences across the country with a versatile style and repertoire that covers standards, Broadway, jazz, pop and country.

Ms. Eder’s first big break came in 1987 with an audition for “Star Search.” After an unprecedented 12-week win, she landed the leading role as Lucy Harris in the 1990 musical Jekyll & Hyde, a role she played for more than 900 performances all across the U.S. before finally arriving on Broadway in 1996, for which she won a Drama Desk Award.

The mainstay of Eder’s career remains the concert stage. She has performed across the country, including New York’s Radio City Music Hall and four sold-out shows at Carnegie Hall. Her concerts have been televised on Bravo and PBS. She has appeared on televised concerts of The Songwriter’s Hall of Fame, and Julie Andrew’s “Leading Ladies of Broadway.”

COMPLETE CONCERT DETAILS
BSO SuperPops: Linda Eder’s Judy Garland Songbook
Thursday, January 28, 2010 at 8:00 p.m.—The Music Center at Strathmore
Friday, January 29, 2010 at 8:00 p.m.—Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall
Saturday, January 30, 2010 at 8:00 p.m.—Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall
Sunday, January 31, 2010 at 3:00 p.m.—Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall  

Jack Everly, conductor
Linda Eder, vocalist 

Tickets for these performances range from $28 to $80 and are available through the BSO Ticket Office, 877.BSO.1444, 410.783.8000 or BSOmusic.org.