Wednesday, July 20, 2005

An Important Step

This week, Marin Alsop was appointed musical director of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. This makes her the first woman to be appointed musical director of a major orchestra in the United States. ("Major" refers to orchestras in the top thirty U.S. orchestras in terms of annual budget.)

My alma mater, Peabody, is in Baltimore, and many Peabody faculty members play in the orchestra; so I'm proud that it was the Baltimore Symphony that took this historic step. I'm also glad to know that Marin Alsop believes in investing more time in her orchestra and its city than the average jet-setting conductor does.

For more on Marin Alsop see www.marinalsop.com.

Sunday, July 03, 2005

Ruth Laredo

This week, I was very sad to learn that pianist Ruth Laredo had passed away on May 25 of this year.

I met Ruth Laredo twice. The first time she was judging a competition in which I played. She was warm and encouraging. Six or seven years later, I saw her give a masterclass here in Richmond. I never saw her perform.

Ruth Laredo was the first pianist to record the complete works of Rachmaninoff. That achievement will probably secure her memory for generations to come. She also recorded the complete Sonatas of Scriabin.

For more on Ruth Laredo's legacy, see my links.