Highlights

The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra was founded in 1916 as a municipal orchestra, supported by taxpayer money. Gustave Strube served as the first conductor of the group of about 50 players. It became a private institution in 1942. The orchestra came into its own in the 1960s when philanthropist Joseph Meyerhoff became president. During his tenure, the BSO moved from the Lyric Opera House to its new permanent home at the 2,443-seat Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall. The orchestra also performs at the Music Center at Strathmore in North Bethesda. The BSO had many firsts under conductor Sergiu Comissiona, whom Meyerhoff appointed. Comissiona expanded the orchestra's season to 52 weeks. The BSO went o...
The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra was founded in 1916 as a municipal orchestra, supported by taxpayer money. Gustave Strube served as the first conductor of the group of about 50 players. It became a private institution in 1942. The orchestra came into its own in the 1960s when philanthropist Joseph Meyerhoff became president. During his tenure, the BSO moved from the Lyric Opera House to its new permanent home at the 2,443-seat Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall. The orchestra also performs at the Music Center at Strathmore in North Bethesda. The BSO had many firsts under conductor Sergiu Comissiona, whom Meyerhoff appointed. Comissiona expanded the orchestra's season to 52 weeks. The BSO went on its first international tour in 1979 and became the first American orchestra to be invited to the Dresden Music Festival in 1981. Comissiona also led the BSO's first recordings. Under director David Zinman, the BSO was the first American orchestra to tour the Soviet Union after cultural relations were resumed at the end of the Afghanistan war. The BSO won several Grammys for its recordings with Yo-Yo Ma in the 1980s and '90s and received nominations for other works. In 2005, the BSO made history when it named Marin Alsop its 12th director, making her the first woman to be appointed music director of a major U.S. orchestra. Under Alsop, the orchestra released recordings on iTunes and was broadcast on XM Satellite Radio. For the 2007-2008 season, the orchestra unveiled a ticket sales plan intended to boost attendance. New and current BSO subscribers paid $25 per concert for seats anywhere in the hall.
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Recent book beckons to Hutzler's fans
It's hard to believe that Hutzler's, the legendary Howard Street department store that provided goods and memorable services to Baltimoreans for 132 years, rang up its final sales two decades ago. Just a decade earlier, according to Robert Hendrickson,...Tags: John Waters, Clothing and Textiles Industry, White Marsh, Marshall Field, Sales
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Doris M. Everett, secretary and WAVE
Doris M. Everett, a retired secretary who served as a Navy WAVE during World War II and the Korean War, died Nov. 12 of breast cancer at her Overlea home. She was 86. Doris Miles was born in Baltimore and raised in the Herring Run neighborhood. After...Tags: Thomaston, Overlea, Defense, Armed Forces, Death and Dying
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Ralph E. Marquiss Sr., engineer and singer
Ralph Edwin Marquiss Sr., a retired consulting engineer, former partner in the Baltimore engineering firm of Rummel, Klepper & Kahl, and a professional singer, died Saturday of prostate cancer at the Vermont Respite House in Williston, Vt.
The former...Tags: Colleges and Universities, Technology, Music Theater, Rosa Ponselle, Crossroads
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BSO, Thibaudet play Gershwin with zestful authenticity
A big trend in classical music over the past several decades is historical authenticity, the attempt to re-create how works sounded when they were new. This usually involves repertoire from distant centuries, but pieces from relatively recent times can...Tags: George Gershwin, Music Industry, Paul Whiteman, Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, Dining and Drinking
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Jean-Yves Thibaudet shows jazzy side in Gershwin
"He has such a flourish about him, doesn't he?"
That's Marin Alsop, speaking about Jean-Yves Thibaudet, the French pianist with the scintillant technique, refined musicality and really great clothes.
Thibaudet is the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra's...Tags: Paul Whiteman, Cecilia Bartoli, Duke Ellington, Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, Albert Hall
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BGE head led building of Calvert Cliffs
George Vincent McGowan, the retired chief executive officer of Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. whose civic roles included the chairmanship of the University of Maryland Board of Regents, died of heart failure Thursday at the Hospice of Queen Anne's County....Tags: Colleges and Universities, Clubs and Associations, Chesapeake Bay, Death and Dying, Catonsville
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Joan S. Buck, teacher and businesswoman
Joan S. Buck, a former educator and businesswoman, died Friday evening at Maryland General Hospital after being stricken with a heart attack at the Meyerhoff Symphony Hall. She was 86.
Joan Stewart Elliott, the daughter of a stockbroker and a homemaker,...Tags: Wheaton College, Colleges and Universities, Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, Anglican, Hospitals and Clinics
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A young conductor with control beyond his years
Baltimore Sun reporterWhen he stands before an orchestra, his cues are precise, his tempos clear; his face takes on a wide variety of expressions, from fierce to cherubic, as he shapes the melodic phrases. The only outward sign that Ilyich Rivas is not a seasoned professional...Tags: Colleges and Universities, Music Industry, Venezuela, Gustav Mahler, DVDs and Movies
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Langrée, BSO bring power to dramatic work of Haydn
All orchestras need to get back to their roots periodically, putting aside the big-gun Tchaikovsky and Mahler works and exploring the more intimately scaled world of Haydn. He was, after all, the "father of the symphony," the composer who created the mold...Tags: Music Industry, Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, Classical Music (genre), Hospitals and Clinics
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Renowned pianist stirs emotions behind bars at Jessup
As a child, Heather Patterson played the piano. She's always loved opera and classical music. But that was a long time ago, before she wound up in prison on drug charges.
Yet those memories came back Friday as renowned classical pianist Simone...Tags: Music Theater, Museum Dioramas, Academic Progress, Classical Music (genre), Drug Trafficking
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Ultimate fight club
Baltimore Sun reporterThe movies are the movies, but what the Shaolin Warriors do up there on the stage is real. And when it comes to watching the impossible - like when a guy is balanced oh-so-precariously on the tips of a bunch of swords, or when men leap unbelievably high...Tags: Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, YouTube, Academic Progress, Buddhism, Family
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