Baltimore Symphony Orchestra maestra Marin Alsop receives honorary degree at Commencement

BSO music director Marin Alsop received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters at TU's 2016 Commencement.

Marin Alsop, music director of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra (BSO) since 2007, is an inspiring and powerful voice in the international music scene. She is recognized across the world for her innovative approach to programming and for her deep commitment to education and to the development of audiences of all ages.

Born in New York City, Alsop attended Yale University and received her master’s degree from The Juilliard School. Her conducting career was launched when, in 1989, she was a prize-winner at the Leopold Stokowski International Conducting Competition and in the same year was the first woman to be awarded the Koussevitzky Conducting Prize from the Tanglewood Music Center, where she was a pupil of Leonard Bernstein.

Marin Alsop, photo credit: Adrienne White
Marin Alsop (photo credit: Adrienne White)

As part of her artistic leadership in Baltimore, Alsop has created bold initiatives that have contributed to the wider community and reached new audiences. In 2008 she launched OrchKids, which provides music education, instruments, meals and mentorship to the city’s neediest young people. Engaging the local community, the BSO Academy and Rusty Musicians schemes also allow adult amateur musicians the chance to play alongside members of the orchestra under Alsop’s baton. 

Alsop took up the post of principal conductor of the São Paulo Symphony Orchestra (OSESP) in 2012 and became music director in July 2013. She has also served as music director of California’s Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music since 1992. Previous appointments include the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, Eugene Symphony Orchestra and Colorado Symphony Orchestra.

Alsop has guest-conducted the great orchestras of the world: Philadelphia, Cleveland, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Royal Concertgebouw (Amsterdam), La Scala Philharmonic, Orchestre de Paris and Bavarian Radio Symphony. In Europe, she regularly returns to the Frankfurt Radio Symphony, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic and the Czech Philharmonic. She also maintains a close relationship with the London Symphony and London Philharmonic, appearing with both orchestras most seasons, as well as with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment. She is also artist in residence at the Southbank Centre in London. 

The recipient of numerous awards, Alsop is the only conductor to receive the prestigious MacArthur Fellowship, given to U.S. residents in recognition of exceptional creative work. She was only classical musician included in The Guardian’s “Top 100 women,” which celebrated the centenary of International Women’s Day in 2011. Alsop is an honorary member of the Royal Academy of Music, London, and the Royal Philharmonic Society. She was recently appointed director of the Graduate Conducting Program at the Johns Hopkins Peabody Institute.

The latest disc of Alsop’s Prokofiev symphonic cycle with OSESP (Symphony No.3) was released in 2015. Alsop’s extensive discography on Naxos includes a notable set of Brahms symphonies with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Brahms Ein Deutsches Requiem with the MDR Leipzig Radio Choir and Symphony Orchestra and a highly praised Dvořák series with the BSO. Other award-winning recordings include Bernstein’s Mass (Editor’s Choice, Gramophone Awards 2010) and Jennifer Higdon’s Percussion Concerto (Grammy Award 2010). Alsop has also recorded for Decca Classics, Harmonia Mundi and Sony Classical.

Alsop and the BSO are celebrating the orchestra’s centenary this year.