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ANGEL BLUE AND RACHMANINOFF 2
SAT, MAR 25, 8 PM
OKSANA LYNIV, CONDUCTOR ANGEL BLUE, SOPRANO
JANÁČEK( arr. Talich, rev. Smetáček): Suite from The Cunning Little Vixen BARBER Knoxville: Summer of 1915 TERRENCE BLANCHARD Selections from Fire Shut Up In My Bones RACHMANINOFF Symphony No. 2
Fresh off her role in the celebrated Metropolitan Opera production of Terrence Blanchard’ s Fire Shut Up in My Bones, the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra welcomes Angel Blue, one of the opera’ s stars who“ soared impressively”( The New Yorker),“ bringing her luminous soprano voice and unforced charisma”( The New York Times). Barber’ s Knoxville and Rachmaninoff’ s Second Symphony bask in the beautiful, bittersweet glow of nostalgia, while Janáček’ s The Cunning Little Vixen shines in all its fantastical glory under the baton of the accomplished opera conductor Oksana Lyniv.
THE PATHÉTIQUE SYMPHONY
SAT, MAY 20, 8 PM
JONATHON HEYWARD, CONDUCTOR XAVIER FOLEY, DOUBLE BASS
GRACE-EVANGELINE MASON The Imagined Forest XAVIER FOLEY Double Bass Concerto TCHAIKOVSKY Symphony No. 6,“ Pathétique”
Make room for a new generation of powerhouse artists when the“ ferociously committed and incisive” Jonathon Heyward( The Guardian) conducts scores by two rising stars in their twenties. The British composer Grace-Evangeline Mason takes us on an ethereal adventure, and the American virtuoso Xavier Foley uses every measure of his creativity and charisma to make the overlooked double bass a conduit for joy and justice. Tchaikovsky’ s passionate Symphony No. 6 closes the program.
TO AWAKEN THE SLEEPER
SAT, JUN 17, 8 PM
JAMES CONLON, CONDUCTOR RODRICK DIXON, NARRATOR
ADOLPHUS HAILSTORK Epitaph for a Man Who Dreamed ALVIN SINGLETON 56 Blows JOEL THOMPSON To Awaken the Sleeper( BSO Co-Commission) SHOSTAKOVICH Symphony No. 10
The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra revisits Adolphus Hailstork’ s reverent memorial to Martin Luther King Jr.( a work it premiered in 1980), and it touches the visceral hurt in Alvin Singleton’ s 1994 reaction to police brutality. Joel Thompson, a young composer who is revolutionizing concert music with his deeply moving stands on race and justice, adds a gripping meditation on the words of James Baldwin. Artistic Advisor James Conlon concludes with a fresh look at the self-reflective symphony Shostakovich wrote in the aftermath of Stalin’ s reign of terror.
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