Baltimore Symphony Orchestra Appoints Two New Senior Staff Members:
Beth Buck as Vice President and Chief Financial Officer; Carol Bogash as Vice President of Education and Community Engagement

Baltimore, Md. (May 20, 2011) - The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra (BSO) today announced two recent senior-level appointments. Beth Buck has joined the BSO as its new vice president and chief financial officer and Carol Bogash will fill a newly created position in September as the Orchestra's vice president of education and community engagement. Ms. Bogash and Ms. Buck fill two leadership roles essential to the BSO's strategic vision: to deepen audience engagement and cultivate new audiences through effective and transformative artistic and education initiatives, and to prosper artistically within a sustainably balanced budget.

Speaking of the appointments, President and CEO Paul Meecham commented, "I am thrilled that the BSO has been able to attract two candidates so highly qualified in their respective fields. As the BSO builds towards its centenary season in 2016, we have a superb management team in place to realize the artistic and financial goals of this wonderful orchestra and cultural institution."

Beth Buck, Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
Effective immediately, Beth Buck assumes the role of vice president and chief financial officer. With more than 20 years as a senior executive officer and CFO, she brings extensive experience in financial reporting, strategic planning, budgeting, investor relations and tax planning and execution with a focus on operation improvements through a total team approach. For the last two years she served as vice president and chief accounting officer for Columbia-based Kelson Energy, where she developed a high-quality team able to support public company requirements. Previously, Ms. Buck was the chief financial officer at two Maryland companies, the Ingenium Corporation (2004-2007) and RWD Technologies (2000-2003). A certified public accountant, she received an undergraduate degree in business administration from Robert Morris College and earned an Executive MBA from Carnegie Mellon University. Currently Ms. Buck serves as a board member for Joy of Motion Dance Company based in Washington, D.C.

As the chief financial officer, Ms. Buck will play a key role in maintaining fiscal responsibility and best accounting practices to ensure the organization operates within a balanced budget, as well as work with the board and senior staff to generate new earned revenue opportunities. The BSO has successfully balanced its budget three out of the past four fiscal years.

Carol Bogash, Vice President of Education and Community Engagement
Effective September 6, 2011, Carol Bogash will assume the brand new role of vice president of education and community engagement. In this capacity, Ms. Bogash will manage all aspects of the BSO's education and community engagement projects including the well-established mid-week education concerts and family programs, and the expansion of new outreach and mentorship programs introduced under Music Director Marin Alsop's tenure such as OrchKids and the BSO Academy.

Ms. Bogash joins the BSO as it continues to earn a national reputation as a leader for excellence and innovation in both education and audience development. In recent years, the Orchestra has increased its connectedness to all generations of music-lovers across the Greater Baltimore and Montgomery County communities. OrchKids, the orchestra's marquee in-school and after-school music program which serves youth in West Baltimore has grown to include more than 300 students at two schools with plans to expand further later this year. The BSO has also created new and effective life-long learning programs including Rusty Musicians and the summer Academy, both of which aim to mentor amateur musicians through uncommon exposure and training directly from BSO musicians and Music Director Marin Alsop.

Ms. Bogash is one of the country's most experienced and highly credentialed arts education administrators. She currently serves as the Director of Education for the Washington Performing Arts Society (WPAS) in the nation's capital, overseeing a large and diverse program, which under her leadership now reaches more than 100,000 children and adults in the D.C. Metro area. The programs designed by Ms. Bogash take a unique approach, delivering a comprehensive and integrated continuum of education, training and performance opportunities that are part of a multi-year vision called the WPAS Capitol Arts Initiative (CAI) that is currently engaging students in 74 District of Columbia public schools.  Most notably during her four years at WPAS, she co-authored the Comprehensive Music Plan for the District of Columbia Public Schools which was approved by Chancellor Henderson in November 2010. Ms. Bogash was also instrumental in helping to write and advocate for the adoption of the Arts Standards for the District of Columbia Schools, approved by the District of Columbia State Board of Education in 2009 and recognized by former D.C. Public Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee.

From 1994 to 2006, she served as the Director of Educational and Cultural Programs at the Smithsonian Institution's Associates Program overseeing more than 1,500 educational events annually which included lectures, Smithsonian's Discovery Theatre, performances, summer camp, international study tours, and cultural festivals throughout the United States. A certified public school music teacher in the State of Maryland, she spent her early career teaching in the Baltimore City Public Schools before moving into arts administration, most notably as Orchestra Manager at the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra from 1981 to1989 and then as Associate Director in the Division of Liberal Arts at Johns Hopkins University's School of Continuing Studies.

Ms. Bogash has a bachelor of music degree from University of Georgia and a master degree in music from Peabody, as well as a Maryland teacher's certificate from Loyola College and Towson State University.  She most recently was awarded the Palmes Academiques by the Republic of France for her contributions to education and furtherance of French culture in the United States.

About the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
The Grammy Award-winning Baltimore Symphony Orchestra (BSO) is internationally recognized as having achieved a preeminent place among the world's most important orchestras. Acclaimed for its enduring pursuit of artistic excellence, the BSO has attracted a devoted national and international following while maintaining deep bonds throughout Maryland with innovative education and community outreach initiatives.

The BSO made musical history in September 2007, when Maestra Marin Alsop led her inaugural concerts as the Orchestra's 12th music director, making her the first woman to head a major American orchestra. With her highly praised artistic vision, her dynamic musicianship and her commitment to accessibility in classical music, Maestra Alsop's leadership has ushered in a new era for the BSO and its audiences.

Under Music Director Marin Alsop's leadership, the BSO has rapidly added several critically acclaimed albums to its already impressive discography. The BSO recently released Dvořák's Symphonies Nos. 6, 7 and 8, the final two discs in its three-disc Dvořák cycle. In August 2009, the BSO and Marin Alsop released Bernstein's Mass featuring baritone Jubilant Sykes, the Morgan State University Choir and the Peabody Children's Chorus. The album rose to number six on the Classical Billboard Charts and received a 2009 Grammy nomination for Best Classical Album. The Orchestra made its foray into online distribution in April 2007 with the release of a live-concert recording of Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring on iTunes, which quickly became the site's number one classical music download.

In addition to the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, where the orchestra has performed for 29 years, the BSO is a founding partner and the resident orchestra at the new state-of-the-art Music Center at Strathmore, just outside Washington, D.C. With the opening of Strathmore in February 2005, the BSO became the nation's only major orchestra with year-round venues in two metropolitan areas.