{ In History }
300 years ago, in 1717, the final volume of a translation into French by Antoine Galland was published posthumously. Galland, who died in 1715, had discovered a 14 th-century Syrian manuscript in Constantinople filled with stories about Sinbad the Sailor and other fantastical adventures, and he set to work translating it. The 12-volume“ Les mille et une nuit” was the first European version of Scheherazade’ s famous tales.
{ In Trouble }
A ferret plays with instruments
Ari, a ferret, sneaks into a shop late one night only to discover a playground beyond his wildest dreams. He sees all kinds of instruments: woodwinds, brass, drums. It’ s an instrument repair shop.
This is the setting for the Animated Orchestra, commissioned by the Cabrillo Festival to celebrate its 50 th anniversary in 2012, where it was conducted by Marin Alsop and narrated by its composer and author, Gregory Smith.
Alsop and Smith join forces with BSO musicians to recreate the story for the March 4 Family Concert.
Audience members both young and old use their imaginations— with the help of the orchestra— to experience Ari’ s exploits. The little ferret scampers about, climbing up and sliding down the strings of a bass, trying out the trumpets, tuning the violins and banging on drums. He even falls asleep inside the tuba, an act that has the conductor pulling her hair out.
Presenting Sponsor:
Official Education Partner of the BSO
Going for Baroque
Supporting Sponsors:
Johann Sebastian Bach’ s time-honored Brandenburg Concertos will help the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra wind down its 2016 – 2017 season! The program, conducted by Marin Alsop with soloists from the BSO, replaces the previously scheduled Bluebeard’ s Castle in June. The six pieces, first performed in 1721, are considered the jewels among orchestral compositions from the Baroque era.
Performances will be Thursday, June 8 at 8pm at Strathmore, Saturday, June 10 at 8pm and Sunday, June 11 at 3pm at the Meyerhoff. For ticket information, BSOmusic. org.
{ InSpir ation }
Pulse program explores the fringe
Nicholas Hersh, co-curator of the BSO’ s innovative Pulse Series, looks for connections between the indie bands who perform on the Meyerhoff stage and the classical tradition of the concert hall. For each production, he chooses a piece from the orchestral canon that highlights common themes, with a goal to remind audiences of the universality of music.
Lower Dens, the Baltimore-based band that will appear in May, had a strong opinion about placing“ Mysteries of the Macabre,” by the Transylvanianborn composer György Ligeti( who died in 2006, a resident of Vienna) on the program. The piece is an aria from his opera The Grand Macabre. Jana Hunter, the band’ s lead singer,“ advocated specifically for pairing Ligeti with her music,” says Hersh.“ She considers him an inspiration.”
Hersh thought it a good fit.“ Lower Dens and Ligeti each represent the truly experimental fringe of their respective genres,” he says.
Lower Dens will perform with the BSO on May 11. For information, BSOmusic. org / Pulse
Pulse is made possible by a grant from The Wallace Foundation.
Pulse Series
Jordan August
March – APRIL 2017 | Overture 5