Baltimore Symphony Orchestra Announces 2015 Summer Season
Including Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons, Dvořák’s New World Symphony,
the annual Star-Spangled Spectacular at Oregon Ridge,
and an evening with “Family Guy” creator and singer, Seth MacFarlane
Baltimore, Md. (March 27, 2015) — The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra today announced its 2015 summer programs. This summer’s concerts will include the annual Star-Spangled Spectacular at Oregon Ridge Park, comedian and singer Seth MacFarlane, Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons and Dvořák’s New World Symphony. Calendar and concert information is below. For more info, please visit BSOmusic.org.
The summer season begins with Baltimore’s favorite Fourth of July tradition: Star-Spangled Spectacular at Oregon Ridge Park (Cockeysville, Md.) on July 3 & 4, featuring patriotic favorites that culminate in a brilliant fireworks display. BSO Assistant Conductor Nicholas Hersh leads the BSO in selections such as Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture, Sousa’s Stars and Stripes Forever and more. Each concert begins with the National Anthem, sung by the winner(s) of the BSO’s eighth annual “O, Say Can You Sing?” singing competition. (Full details about the competition, including audition information, will be announced at a later date.)
On July 16 at the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, creator of the TV series “Family Guy,” and actor, comedian, singer and songwriter Seth MacFarlane brings his popular show to Baltimore for one evening only. MacFarlane combines his smooth singing talents with his love of musicals, big band and classic artists in a performance that is an entertaining mix of comedy and music.
On July 23 at the Music Center at Strathmore and July 24 at the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, BSO Concertmaster Jonathan Carney leads the orchestra in Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons, a set of four violin concertos each varied to resemble its respective season. Program repertoire also includes Handel’s Selections from Water Music.
Maestro Tito Muñoz leads the BSO and violinist Ariel Horowitz for Dvořák’s Symphony No. 9, “From the New World” on July 30 at Music Center at Strathmore and July 31 at Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall. Maestro Muñoz is a protégé of former BSO music Director David Zinman. Eighteen-year-old violinist and winner of the Silver Medal and Audience Choice Award at the Stulberg International String Competition (2013) Ariel Horowitz performs Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto. Also on the program is Barber’s The School for Scandal Overture.
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra Summer 2015 Events Calendar
Star-Spangled Spectacular
Friday, July 3, 2015 at 8 pm – Oregon Ridge Park
Saturday, July 4, 2015 at 8 pm – Oregon Ridge Park
Nicholas Hersh, conductor
Red, white and blue – and patriotic fun, too! Join the BSO for our annual holiday celebration featuring Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture, Sousa’s Stars and Stripes Forever and many more while watching a dazzling display of fireworks. Plus, hear the BSO’s “O, Say Can You Sing?” contest winner perform The Star-Spangled Banner.
Gates open at 5 p.m. and concertgoers can enjoy delicious eats from local food trucks. Free parking is available at the Verizon lot on Shawan Road with shuttle to the park. Permits for onsite parking can be purchased for $12 in advance from the BSO Ticket Office or for $15 at the gate.
Tickets are general admission lawn seating and are available through the BSO Ticket Office, BSOmusic.org or 410.783.8000 or at the park gate. Advanced tickets are $18 for adults and $9 for children under 12. If purchased at the gate, tickets are $20 for adults and $10 for children under 12.
Concertgoers are invited to bring lawn chairs, blankets and picnics for a full evening of entertainment with the BSO.
An Evening with Seth MacFarlane
Thursday, July 16, 2015 at 8 pm – Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall
In a special, one-night-only concert, “Family Guy” funny man and Grammy-nominated artist Seth MacFarlane brings his smooth singing talents and irreverent humor to Baltimore showcasing his love of Big Band and American Songbook standards.
Presale tickets for subscribers and donors are available from Friday, March 27 through Monday, March 30. General admission tickets go on sale at 10 am Monday, March 30. Tickets start at $25 and are available through the BSO Ticket Office, 410.783.8000 or BSOmusic.org.
Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons
Thursday, July 23, 2015 at 8 pm – The Music Center at Strathmore
Friday, July 24, 2015 at 7:30 pm – Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall
Jonathan Carney, leader and violin
VIVALDI: The Four Seasons
HANDEL: Selections from Water Music
Vivaldi’s vivid depiction of the seasons comes to life as BSO Concertmaster Jonathan Carney expertly weaves his sound through the varied textures of this perennial favorite. This all-Baroque program ends with selections from Handel’s revered Water Music, a work that premiered on the River Thames at the request of King George I.
Tickets start at $25 and are available through the BSO Ticket Office, 410.783.8000 or BSOmusic.org.
Dvořák’s New World Symphony
Thursday, July 30, 2015 at 8 pm – The Music Center at Strathmore
Friday, July 31, 2015 at 7:30 pm – Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall
Tito Muñoz, conductor
Ariel Horowitz, violin
BARBER: The School for Scandal Overture
MENDELSSOHN: Violin Concerto
DVOŘÁK: Symphony No. 9, “From the New World”
Bold, thrilling and moving all at once. Premiered 120 years ago upon Dvořák’s arrival in the U.S., his Ninth Symphony is emblematic of a foreigner’s portrayal of the life and times of early America. Experience a perfect collision of folk tunes and gypsy flavor from Dvořák’s native Bohemia and his impressions of an exciting turn of-the-century life in the “New World.”
Tickets start at $25 and are available through the BSO Ticket Office, 410.783.8000 or BSOmusic.org.
While current at the time of publication, this calendar is subject to change. Updated calendars are issued regularly. For the most recent version, please contact the BSO Public Relations Office.
VENUES
- Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall is located at 1212 Cathedral Street, Baltimore, Md.
- The Music Center at Strathmore is located at 5301 Tuckerman Lane, Bethesda, Md.
- Oregon Ridge Park is located at 13555 Beaver Dam Road, Cockeysville, Md.
TICKETS
- Tickets for concerts at Oregon Ridge Park, the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall and The Music Center at Strathmore can be purchased through the BSO Ticket Office, 410.783.8000, 877.BSO.1444 or BSOmusic.org.
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra Summer 2015 Artist Biographies
Nicholas Hersh, conductor
Star-Spangled Spectacular
Recently appointed Assistant Conductor with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, conductor Nicholas Hersh has served as Music Director of the Bloomington Symphony Orchestra in Indiana and Assistant Conductor with the National Repertory Orchestra in Colorado. He has appeared in concert with the New World Symphony in Miami and the Southern Great Lakes Symphony in Detroit, and he has served as cover conductor with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra and the Aspen Music Festival. In 2011 and 2012, he was a Conducting Fellow at the American Academy of Conducting at Aspen, and he is a recipient of the Solti Foundation US Career Assistance Award.
Nicholas grew up in Evanston, Illinois and started his musical training with the cello. He earned a bachelor’s degree in music from Stanford University and a master’s degree in conducting from the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, studying with David Effron and Arthur Fagen. He also counts Robert Spano, Hugh Wolff and Larry Rachleff among his conducting mentors, and has participated in master classes with Bernard Haitink and Michael Tilson Thomas.
Hersh’s performance credits span a diverse range of genres beyond the traditional concert canon, including opera, Broadway, pops, choral, Viennese dance, ballet, and film music. An avid performer of new music, he has conducted world premieres of two silent film scores live with pit orchestra and projection, as well as an opera, a symphony and numerous concert pieces. He also continues to earn acclaim for his skill as an arranger and orchestrator: his arrangements include commissions from the Cleveland Pops, the National Repertory Orchestra and the Jackson Symphony, and in 2013 his orchestral arrangement of Queen’s famous “Bohemian Rhapsody” saw worldwide success after the video of its premiere went viral on the Internet.
Seth MacFarlane
At 25, Seth MacFarlane became the youngest showrunner in television history when his animated series “Family Guy” aired on FOX. Now in its 13th season, “Family Guy” has garnered MacFarlane Emmy Awards for Outstanding Voice-Over Performance and Outstanding Music and Lyrics. In addition to “Family Guy”, MacFarlane serves as co-creator, executive producer and voice actor on “American Dad!” He also executive produced the 21st -century version of “Cosmos: A Space Time Odyssey” that premiered last March on ten US networks, simultaneously across FOX and National Geographic platforms, making it the largest television premiere event of all time.
MacFarlane made his feature film directorial debut in 2012 with the highest-grossing original R-rated film of all time, “Ted.” This buddy comedy starred Mark Wahlberg and MacFarlane as the voice of the lovable foul-mouthed teddy bear. The film made over $545 million worldwide and was also co-written and produced by MacFarlane. Fresh off the success of “Ted,” MacFarlane hosted the 85th Academy Awards in 2013 and was also nominated for the film that same year. He was nominated for “Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Song” for “Everybody Needs a Best Friend.” The sequel is currently in post-production and is set for release on June 26, 2015.
MacFarlane’s debut album “Music is Better Than Words,” debuted at #1 on the iTunes jazz charts in 2011 and went on to receive two Grammy nominations, including “Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album.” Released by Universal Republic, the album celebrates the classic, sophisticated sound of the lush swing orchestras of the ‘40s and ‘50s with MacFarlane singing some of the hidden gems of that era. Norah Jones and Sara Bareilles collaborated with MacFarlane on two duets on the album. In 2014, MacFarlane released his first-ever Christmas album, “Holiday for Swing,” that debuted at #1 on the iTunes holiday album charts. The album features timeless holiday songs accompanied by a 52-piece orchestra.
In August of 2014, MacFarlane performed with the world-renowned John Williams Orchestra at the Hollywood Bowl, lending his baritone voice to renditions of “Luck Be a Lady” and “You’re Sensational” to rave reviews. MacFarlane also recently performed sold-out shows with the San Francisco Symphony on New Year’s Eve and the National Symphony Orchestra on Valentine’s Day.
Jonathan Carney, leader and violin
Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons
BSO Concertmaster Jonathan Carney is in his 13th season with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, after 12 seasons in the same position with London’s Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.
Born in New Jersey, Mr. Carney hails from a musical family with all six members having graduated from The Juilliard School. After completing his studies with Ivan Galamian and Christine Dethier, he was awarded a Leverhulme Fellowship to continue his studies in London at the Royal College of Music.
After enjoying critically acclaimed international tours as both concertmaster and soloist with numerous ensembles, Mr. Carney was invited by Vladimir Ashkenazy to become concertmaster of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in 1991. He was also appointed concertmaster of the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra in 1994 and the Basque National Orchestra in 1996. Recent solo performances have included concertos by Bruch, Korngold, Khatchaturian, Sibelius, Nielsen, the Brahms Double Concerto and Vaughan Williams’ The Lark Ascending, which was featured as a live BBC broadcast from London’s Barbican Hall. He has made a number of recordings, including concertos by Mozart, Vivaldi and Nielsen, sonatas by Brahms, Beethoven and Franck, and a disc of virtuoso works of by Sarasate and Kreisler with his mother Gloria Carney as pianist. New releases include Beethoven’s “Archduke” and “Ghost” trios, the cello quintet of Schubert and a Dvořák disc with the Terzetto and four Romantic pieces for violin.
Mr. Carney is passionate about music education and currently serves as artistic advisor for the Maryland Classic Youth Orchestras. He is also an artist in residence at the Baltimore School for the Arts, one of the country’s premier high schools and also serves on its Board of Directors.
Tito Muñoz, conductor
Dvořák’s New World Symphony
Recently appointed Music Director of The Phoenix Symphony, Tito Muñoz is increasingly recognized as one of the most gifted and versatile conductors of his generation. He previously served as Music Director of the Opéra National de Lorraine and the Orchestre symphonique et lyrique de Nancy in France. Prior appointments include Assistant Conductor positions with The Cleveland Orchestra, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra and the Aspen Music Festival.
Mr. Muñoz’s 2014-2015 season includes guest appearances with the Cleveland Orchestra, Atlanta Symphony, Baltimore Symphony, Florida Orchestra, Richmond Symphony, Jacksonville Symphony, and the Manhattan School of Music. In Canada, he makes appearances with the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony, Toronto’s Royal Conservatory Orchestra and the Calgary Philharmonic. Additional international engagements will take place with the Sao Paolo State Symphony. Past notable engagements include the orchestras of Alabama, Atlanta, Cincinnati, Dallas, Detroit, Hawaii, Houston, Indianapolis, Louisville, Milwaukee, Naples, Rochester, San Antonio, Sarasota, and Westchester, among others. Summer festival engagements have included the Chautauqua Symphony, Grant Park Orchestra and the Chicago Philharmonic at the Ravinia Festival. Previous international engagements include the Lausanne Chamber Orchestra, Opéra de Rennes, Danish Radio Sinfonietta, Deutsche Radio Philharmonie Saarbrücken, Luxembourg Philharmonic, Orchestre National de Lorraine, Auckland Philharmonia, and Sydney Symphony.
An accomplished violinist, Mr. Muñoz began his musical training in the Juilliard School’s Music Advancement Program, continuing studies in violin and composition at the Manhattan School of Music Preparatory Division. He attended Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts, and participated in the InterSchool Orchestras of New York and New York Youth Symphony. He furthered his training at Queens College (CUNY) as a violin student of Daniel Phillips.
Ariel Horowitz, violin
Dvořák’s New World Symphony
Violinist Ariel Horowitz cannot remember life before loving music. Winner of the Silver Medal and Audience Choice Award at the 2013 Stulberg International String Competition, The Violin Channel praised Ariel’s artistic philosophy, “If they gave out prizes for attitude…we think we may have found the Olympic champion.” Ariel studies with Itzhak Perlman and Catherine Cho at The Juilliard School as a recipient of the Dorothy Starling and Arnold R. Deutsch/Dorothy Delay Scholarships. She has performed as a soloist with the Raanana Symphonette Orchestra, Neue Philharmonie Westfalen, the Western Michigan University Symphony Orchestra, the Carmel Symphony Orchestra, and the New Albany Symphony Orchestra.
Ariel has appeared as a soloist in the US, China, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Israel, Brazil, and Argentina. In the 2012-2013 season, Ariel was chosen as a Junior Division competitor of the Yehudi Menuhin International Competition for Young Violinists, where she received the Morningside Music Bridge Young Artist Award and was featured in the Gala Finale Concert Hand-Over Ceremony at the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing, China. She performed as a soloist and chamber musician with the Indiana University Virtuosi on a ten-city tour of Argentina and Brazil and at Carnegie Hall. Additionally, she collaborated with Maestro Raymond Harvey at the Stulberg International String
Competition’s Midsummer Night’s Gala Concert and twice with pianist Christopher O’Riley, live on National Public Radio’s “From the Top” and in concert at the 2014 gala concert at MIT Media Lab in Cambridge, Mass.
Ariel has participated and performed in summer music festivals such as The Perlman Music Program, Keshet Eilon International String Mastercourse, Mozarteum Salzburg Summer Academy, Morningside Music Bridge, Orford Music Festival, Indiana University Summer String Academy, and Ferme de Villefavard. Her previous teachers include Mauricio Fuks, Mimi Zweig, and Li Lin, and she has received additional instruction from artists such as Shmuel Ashkenasi, Ivry Gitlis, Vadim Gluzman, Joshua Bell, Edward Auer, Mark Kaplan, Miriam Fried, Karen Gomyo and Jaime Laredo.
***
The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra is funded by an operating grant from the Maryland State Arts Council, an agency dedicated to cultivating a vibrant cultural community where the arts thrive.
The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra is supported in part by funding from the Montgomery County government and the Arts and Humanities Council of Montgomery County.
The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra is also supported by the Citizens of Baltimore County and Baltimore City.
##
