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Marin Alsop, Stephen Williamson, and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra Give a Passionate Performance at Ravinia

By: Louis Harris. July 30, 2025 With Marin Alsop conducting, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra continued its summer residency at Ravinia late Sunday afternoon with a passionate performance of two classical chestnuts, Felix Mendelssohn’s Italian Symphony, No. 4 in A-Major, and Edward Elgar’s Enigma Variations. In between, the CSO’s principal clarinetist Stephen Williamson soloed for an…

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CSO’s summer season opens at Ravinia Festival

July 13, 2025 By Hanna Edgar The Chicago Symphony’s return to Ravinia? Make it double. On July 11 and 12, the orchestra and chief festival conductor Marin Alsop opened its season with two twinned programs. Both began with engrossing contemporary American openers: Carlos Simon’s “AMEN!” on Friday, Jessie Montgomery’s “Strum” on Saturday. Those were followed…

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At the League Conference: Marin Alsop on Blazing Trails, the Power of Music to Connect, and Creating Vibrant New Eras for Orchestras

June 24, 2025 Forward Thinking: Conductor, Advocate, Change Agent By Simon Woods In Brief | Marin Alsop has shattered glass ceilings as an adventurous artist, music director of U.S. and international orchestras, passionate champion of music education for all, and tireless advocate for women conductors. This summer, as she receives the Gold Baton award from…

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Wherever you find yourself this summer, classical music awaits

May 29, 2025 National Orchestral Institute + Festival Each summer, the compettive fellowship program known as the National Orchestral Institute + Festival (or NOI+F) culminates in a month-long lineup of talks, masterclasses, and of course, orchestral and chamber concerts at the University of Maryland’s Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center. Marin Alsop will lead the orchestra…

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Natural and supernatural

June 2026. Peter Quantrill In February and March this year, Marin Alsop, Dalia Stasevska and Joana Mallwitz directed the Berlin Philharmonic in consecutive subscription programmes, uploaded to the orchestra’s Digital Concert Hall. Alsop’s programme – astonishingly, her BPO debut – is a long and fascinating one, opening with the premiere of Day Night Day by Outi Tarkiainen…

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Montero and Marin Are a Hit at Davies Symphony Hall

Apr 11. By Gabe Meline. Photo: Brandon Patoc. In the 1990s, the freestyle rapper Supernatural had a routine that always won over the club. He’d solicit suggestions for words or phrases from the audience, or even items from rap fans’ pockets or purses, and then tell the DJ to drop the beat. Three minutes of complex wordplay…

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