Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and the Washington Chorus Perform Brahms’ German Requiem, June 10–13

Music Director Marin Alsop leads the BSO in Barber’s Knoxville: Summer of 1915 and Brahms’ A German Requiem to conclude the 2009-2010 season

Baltimore, Md. (May 12, 2010) – Music Director Marin Alsop will lead the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra in its final concerts of the 2009-2010 season on Thursday, June 10 at 8 p.m. at the Music Center at Strathmore, Friday, June 11 and Saturday, June 12 at 8 p.m. and Sunday, June 13 at 3 p.m. at the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall. The program includes Barber’s Knoxville: Summer of 1915 and Brahms’ A German Requiem, featuring The Washington Chorus, soprano Janice Chandler-Etemé and baritone Stephen Powell. Please see below for complete concert details.

Brahms’ A German Requiem is regarded as his deepest and most reflective piece, composed as a memorial for both his mother, Christine Brahms, and his mentor, composer Robert Schumann. Writing and playing music was Brahms’ method for coping with grief, and this is evident throughout the piece. Violas, cellos and the double bass provide a dark, mournful sound for the first movement entitled “Blessed are they who mourn.” The sorrowful tones continue until the last movement, “Blessed are the dead,” where a harp interjects, symbolizing both Brahms’ success over sadness and newfound musical knowledge. The Grammy Award-winning Washington Chorus, under Music Director Julian Wachner, will collaborate with the BSO in A German Requiem. Soprano Janice Chandler-Etemé, whose voice The Baltimore Sun describes as “one of the loveliest soprano voices on earth,” is also featured, as well as Stephen Powell, known for his crisp, powerful baritone voice.

Barber’s Knoxville: Summer of 1915 is delicately scored for the orchestra to convey the imagery and nostalgia of the lyrics. It begins with Barber’s recollection of his innocence and naïveté, then transitions into an illustration of a sad reality. While he was composing this piece, both his father and aunt became fatally ill. Just as in Brahms’ Requiem, Barber’s work ends with a sense of triumph over grief and sorrow. Soprano Janice Chandler- Etemé will also perform in this work.

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. She also holds the title of conductor emeritus at the Bournemouth Symphony in the United Kingdom, where she served as the principal conductor from 2002-2008, and is music director of the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music in California.

In 2005, Ms. 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, in 2008 she was inducted as a fellow into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and in 2009 Musical America named her “Conductor of the Year.”

A regular guest conductor with the New York Philharmonic, The Philadelphia Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra and Los Angeles Philharmonic, Ms. Alsop appears frequently as a guest conductor with the most distinguished orchestras around the world. In addition to her performance activities, she is also an active recording artist with award-winning cycles of Brahms, Barber and Dvorák.

Marin Alsop attended Yale University and received her master’s degree from The Juilliard School. In 1989, her conducting career was launched when she won the Koussevitzky Conducting Prize at Tanglewood where she studied with Leonard Bernstein.

Janice Chandler-Etemé, soprano
Janice Chandler Eteme has long been among America’s foremost lyric sopranos, singing an astonishing range of music with the world’s top orchestras and conductors. She began the 2009–2010 season singing Brahm’s A German Requiem with the Virginia Symphony, Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 with Keith Lockhart, the Utah Symphony and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and a Gala concert with the Baltimore Choral Arts Society of Baltimore. She sang Mahler’s Symphony No. 4 with the Modesto Symphony, Mozart’s Requiem and Zemlinsky’s Frühlingsbegrabnis with the Phoenix Symphony, Gorecki’s Symphony No. 3 with the Delaware Symphony and a concert performance of Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess with the Jacksonville Symphony. She joins the Buffalo Philharmonic for Brahms’ A German Requiem, and ends the season on the opera stage as Bess in Porgy and Bess with Opéra de Lyon for performances in Lyon, Edinburgh and London.

Stephen Powell, baritone
In 2009-2010, Stephen Powell sang Ford in Falstaff with Pittsburgh Opera; Uncle John in The Grapes of Wrath with Collegiate Chorale; Brahms’ A German Requiem with the Dutch Radio Orchestra; Szymanowski’s Stabat Mater with Rome’s Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia; Messiah with England’s Huddersfield Choral Society; and Carmina burana with Cincinnati Symphony. He also sang Scarpia in Tosca with Minnesota Orchestra; appears in recital with his wife, soprano Barbara Shirvis, through Highland Park United Methodist Church; and was a soloist in an opera gala concert with North Carolina Symphony Orchestra.

The Washington Chorus
The Grammy Award-winning Washington Chorus is currently in its 49th season and presents an annual subscription series at the J. F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the Music Center at Strathmore and other major venues throughout the Washington area. The Chorus frequently appears with the National Symphony Orchestra, singing under the direction of many of the world's greatest conductors including Leonard Slatkin, Mstislav Rostropovich, Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, Seiji Ozawa, Sir Neville Marriner, Charles Dutoit and Kent Nagano.

The Chorus has recorded, been nationally broadcast and internationally televised, performed as part of a motion picture soundtrack and performed for presidential inaugurations and world leaders. In February of 2000, the Chorus, under the direction of former Music Director Robert Shafer, won a Grammy Award for Best Choral Performance of the Year for its live-performance recording of Benjamin Britten's War Requiem. Other recordings include Grammy-nominated Mussorgsky's Boris Godunov and John Corigliano’s Grammy Award-winning Of Rage and Remembrance with National Symphony Orchestra.

The Chorus has toured internationally, traveling to such musically important destinations as Paris, Vienna, Prague, Barcelona and Rome. The Washington Chorus is deeply committed to being a strong presence in the Washington community and hosts various educational programs and free concerts throughout the greater Washington area for special needs groups.

COMPLETE CONCERT DETAILS
Classical Concert: Brahms’ German Requiem
Thursday, June 10, 2010 at 8:00 p.m.— The Music Center at Strathmore
Friday, June 11, 2010 at 8:00 p.m.—Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall
Saturday, June 12, 2010 at 8:00 p.m.— Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall
Sunday, June 13, 2010 at 3:00 p.m.— Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall

Marin Alsop, conductor
Janice Chandler-Etemé, soprano
Stephen Powell, baritone
The Washington Chorus
   Julian Wachner, music director

Barber: Knoxville: Summer of 1915
Brahms: A German Requiem

Tickets for these performances range from $25 to $80 and are available through the BSO Ticket Office, 877.BSO.1444, 410.783.8000 or BSOmusic.org.