Marin Alsop: A New Perspective
Marin Alsop in conversation with Frank J. Oteri
April 18, 2007—9:00 a.m.
at the offices of 21C Media Group, New York City
Video presentation by
Randy Nordschow
Transcribed and edited by
Frank J. Oteri and Lyn Liston
While Marin Alsop made international headlines for being the first woman conductor to be appointed music director of a major U.S. orchestra, she is equally revolutionary as an advocate for new perspectives. A champion both of American music and contemporary composers (which she is quick to point out is not necessarily the same thing), she is also a valuable musical citizen who is committed both to training the next generation of conductors and to making a broad range of music available and affordable to audiences around the world.
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In addition to her activities in Baltimore, where next season she will begin her first season as music director of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, she has been and will continue to be the music director of the Cabrillo Music Festival, conductor laureate of the Colorado Symphony, and the principal conductor of the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra. And later this month, she will give the keynote address at the American Symphony Orchestra League Conference in Nashville. When I spoke to Marin in late April, she had just flown in from London where she had appeared with the London Philharmonic.
We didn’t have a lot of time—I was actually headed for a flight to Los Angeles—but we managed to speak about quite a few things in the hour we had together. I walked away feeling that I had been in the presence of a true leader, a remarkably astute and persuasive public figure, the kind of qualities important world politicians could and should have. It’s great to know that such a persona exists in the music community.
—FJO