A Towson orchestra’s concert Sunday will feature the world premiere of a song first commissioned by a Baltimore man in 1875.
The Baltimore Philharmonia Orchestra, a donation-funded volunteer orchestra based in Towson, will hold a concert in Towson on Sunday. Pianist and Peabody Institute graduate Lorraine Min headlines the free event with a performance of the “Alexandroffsky Waltz.”
Lutherville resident Paul Belz said the waltz was first commissioned in 1875 by Thomas Winans, the son of wealthy Baltimore railroad engineer Ross Winans. Belz said he found it in the Library of Congress while doing research for his self-published novel on Thomas Winans, “The American Opus.”
Winans tasked a Russian composer to write a waltz to honor his dying sister Julia, Belz said, but she passed away before hearing the song. Sunday will be the song’s first-ever public performance, Belz said.
The concert will be held Sunday, March 17 at 3 p.m. at Loch Raven High School.