Baltimore Symphony Orchestra Opens Family Concert Series with “Halloween Spooktacular,” Oct. 30

Program features actor Timothy Marrone in Lemony Snicket’s The Composer is Dead

Baltimore, Md. (September 14, 2010)—The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra will present “Halloween Spooktacular” led by the BSO-Peabody Bruno Walter Assistant Conductor Ilyich Rivas, Saturday, October 30 at 11 a.m. at the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall. The program features Lemony Snicket’s The Composer is Dead with actor Timothy Marrone as narrator. The story is a gripping murder mystery that makes every member of the orchestra a suspect. As the inspector interrogates each orchestra section, each instrument is brought to life in this musical mystery. Please see below for complete concert details.

Children’s author Lemony Snicket is world-renowned for his stories captured in A Series of Unfortunate Events, selling more than 60 million copies worldwide in 39 languages. The first three stories in this series were later combined to create the film, A Series of Unfortunate Events, starring comedian Jim Carrey and Academy Award winner Meryl Streep. Nathaniel Stookey originally created The Composer Is Dead as an orchestral work with narration by Lemony Snicket. The work was commissioned by the San Francisco Symphony and premiered in 2006, with Lemony Snicket narrating and Edwin Outwater conducting.

The BSO Family Fun Zone will begin at 10 a.m. in the Meyerhoff lobby. Children and their families can take advantage of numerous free, age-appropriate pre-concert activities, including the Maryland Zoo’s ZOOmobile, an instrument petting zoo presented by Music & Arts and face painting. Children are encouraged to dress in their favorite Halloween costume for a chance to win prizes.

Ilyich Rivas, conductor
Ilyich Rivas was born in Venezuela in 1993 into a distinguished musical family. From a young age it was clear he had a natural talent for conducting and he started studying with his father when he was just 6 years of age.  In 2009, he was selected to participate in the Cabrillo Festival Conductors Workshop in California, where he made a significant impression on both Marin Alsop and Gustav Meier. After an audition in front of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, he was awarded the position of BSO-Peabody Conducting Fellowship starting in September 2009. This two-year position permits him to study conducting at the Peabody Institute under Meier's guidance, and to work closely with Marin Alsop and the BSO. 

In the summer of 2009, he spent an extensive period of time in Europe at the invitation of Glyndebourne Opera, where he observed rehearsals and performance mentored primarily by Vladimir Jurowski and then attended the first Verbier Festival Conducting Academy.

In the 2009-2010 season, he made his professional debut in the U.S. conducting the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra in a summer festival concert to considerable critical acclaim. More recently, he made a hugely impressive debut with the Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra. This summer, the Glyndebourne Opera again invited him to continue the mentoring program and he returned to the Verbier Festival, where he had a major success conducting performances of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5 and La bohème. At the Festival, he was awarded the Julius Baer Prize in recognition of his impressive talent and achievements.

Timothy Marrone, narrator
Timothy Marrone received his training at the Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre in New York City and has appeared on stage throughout the Northeast, most recently in Baltimore and Washington, D.C. For 10 years, he served as a founding member of the Maryland-based clown/theatre troupe Theatricks. He has appeared as a silent comic character for the Washington National Opera, The Maryland Lyric Opera, The Summer Opera Series at Catholic University and toured as a clown with the George Carden Circus.

As a physical comedian he has performed productions with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Baltimore Chamber Orchestra, Billings Symphony Orchestra, Lincoln Symphony Orchestra, Lafayette Symphony Orchestra, Waterloo-Cedar Falls Symphony Orchestra, Lansing Symphony Orchestra, Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra and the River Concert Series in St. Mary's City, Md. He tours his solo show "Clowning Around With Shakespeare" for young audiences in Maryland and is a theater and movement instructor at the Baltimore School for the Arts.

COMPLETE CONCERT DETAILS
Halloween Spooktacular

For children ages 5 and up and their families

Saturday, October 30, 2010 at 11 a.m. —Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall

Ilyich Rivas, conductor
Timothy Marrone, narrator

The Composer is Dead
     Story by Lemony Snicket/Orchestration by Nathaniel Stookey

Tickets range from $12 to $20 and are available through the BSO Ticket Office, 877.BSO.1444, 410.783.8000 or BSOmusic.org.