While I am not enamored of baroque classical music (it is baroque, right?), I do enjoy a great symphonic performance.  When I was little, it was Leonard Bernstein who introduced the famous dead to me.  It was somewhat comical to my friends and family to hear me listening to piece recommended by Mr. B- whilst my radio (tuned to 1010WINS, of course) was belching tunes broadcast from Alan Freed’s or Murray the K’s fantastic shows.

From the opportunity to perform at Lincoln Center to soaking up the music at many performances all over New York, it was classical, rock, folk all the time for me.  Which choices persisted when I resided in Boston (which is where I fell in love with Michael Tilson Thomas and Seiiji Ozawa at the Boston Symphony Orchestra- the BSO).

Which also reminds me of the time I dragged my son- almost kicking and screaming- to a Kennedy Center performance.  Who kept insisting I was ruining his evening until… Yo Yo Ma began playing.   Daniel was enraptured!

A rather long introduction to the other BSO.   The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra.  Last Thursday, it presented its 100^th Birthday performance.  Now, most of you know little about this orchestra, but it’s talented conductor is a MacArthur Genius Awardee.  Yup.  Marin Alsop.

And,  Thursday night, she and the orchestra mesmerized the (mostly local) sold-out house.   It didn’t hurt to have Joshua Bell and his violin joining the crew.  You know Joshua Bell- he’s the one who played at a DC Metro stop.  Most folks thought he was a homeless guy seeking some funds.  Never once recognizing the talented performer sharing his expertise with all those harried commuters.

Joshua was the soloist for the ‘West Side Suite for Violin and Orchestra’ written by Maestro Bernstein.   It’s as if Bernstein wrote the piece just for him.  (Yes, I skipped by the BSO’s choice of Gershwin’s ‘Cuban Overture’,  because even though I love Gershwin, this is not among his best- in my opinion.)

Two new works were also provided for audience enjoyment.  Written just for this occasion.  Kristin Kuster (BTW, Go Blue!) wrote ‘Moxie’- and the music and the performance matched her chosen title with aplomb.   The other new piece was developed by the Kennedy Center resident composer, Mason Bates entitled ‘Mothership’, replete with a saxophone solo- and an electric cigar box guitar!

And, then, Ms. Alsop shared something new with the celebrants. The orchestra is going to stop wearing tuxedos and black gowns.  Because the musicians need to be able to move, to be ‘in tune’ with the music.  So, they are having the Parson’s School of Design design a more athletic, yet formal, attire.  And, those designs will be brought to life by a local Baltimore firm- UnderArmour.  Clearly, movement will no longer be an issue for the Symphony.

But, it’s not the free movement of the musicians that is the most critical issue. For the BSO – and every other American orchestra- the question is how to fill the seats.  Too many of those who attend concerts are not enthralled with the new composers – or with the lesser played works of hte masters. These concertgoers want the tried and true.  So, the BSO has decided it need to spend its money and time seeking out new audiences.

It’s part of Alsop’s mission- or is that mantra?  “Accessibility, relevance, opportunity.”  That’s why she and the BSO have several other new initiatives.

They have an Academy- a summer camp for adults.   Where those amateur performers can hone their skills by learning from experts among the orchestra.  Where these ‘campers’ get to perform with the orchestra itself.  (And, you can bet that draws them and their friends to see the BSO for many other performances.)

But, the key initiative from my point of view is OrchKids.  A program instituted under Alsop and the BSO.  Providing music training in the inner-city schools, teaching the students the fundamentals of music (which also helps with their math, reading, and other skills).  Replacing the loss of arts that too many schools cut as a first resort to belt-tightening (rather than cutting a few ancillary staff).

This program reminds me of Maestro Bernstein’s Young People’s Concerts.  14 years of bliss on TV, as well as countless live events.  With performers like Aaron Copeland, Helen Raab, Seiiji Ozawa,  even a Moog synthesizer.

But, the BSO program does this one better.   By having the kids play themselves.  Which made the last chosen piece of the celebratory event, Ravel’s ‘Bolero’, anything but mundane.  Building from its powerful drumbeat (and the drummer was using his snare right up front of the orchestra), as the music played we noticed that the lights were coming on all over the hall.  And, we were mesmerized as rows and rows of kids marched down the Meyerhoff Symphony Hall aisles, playing their instruments in tune, in time, and flawlessly to join the orchestra on stage.

Now, that’s an image of Baltimore we want to see more often.

Kudos and touché.

 

http://wamu.org/programs/weekend_edition_saturday/16/04/02/young_musicians_blossom_in_baltimores_orchkids_program#disqus_thread