Marin Alsop is an inspiring and powerful voice in the international music scene, a Music Director of vision and distinction who passionately believes that “music has the power to change lives”. She is recognised across the world for her innovative approach to programming and for her deep commitment to education and to the development of audiences of all ages.
Her success as Music Director of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra was recognised when, in 2009, her tenure was extended to 2015. Alsop took up the post of Principal Conductor of the São Paulo Symphony Orchestra at the start of the 2012 season, steering the orchestra in its artistic and creative programming, recording ventures and its education and outreach activities. In August 2012 she led the orchestra on a European tour, with acclaimed performances at the BBC Proms in London and at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam.
Since 1992, Marin Alsop has been Music Director of California’s Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music, where she has built a devoted audience for new music ... read full bio
Marin Alsop is an inspiring and powerful voice in the international music scene, a Music Director of vision and distinction who passionately believes that “music has the power to change lives”. She is recognised across the world for her innovative approach to programming and for her deep commitment to education and to the development of audiences of all ages.
Her success as Music Director of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra was recognised when, in 2009, her tenure was extended to 2015. Alsop took up the post of Principal Conductor of the São Paulo Symphony Orchestra at the start of the 2012 season, steering the orchestra in its artistic and creative programming, recording ventures and its education and outreach activities. In August 2012 she led the orchestra on a European tour, with acclaimed performances at the BBC Proms in London and at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam.
Since 1992, Marin Alsop has been Music Director of California’s Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music, where she has built a devoted audience for new music.
Building an orchestra is one of Alsop’s great gifts, and she retains strong links with all of her previous orchestras – Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra (Principal Conductor 2002-8; now Conductor Emeritus) and Colorado Symphony Orchestra (Music Director 1993-2005; now Music Director Laureate).
Marin Alsop has guest-conducted the great orchestras of the world: Philadelphia Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Royal Concertgebouw, La Scala Philharmonic, Orchestre de Paris, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra. In Europe, she regularly returns to the Frankfurt Radio Symphony, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic and the Czech Philharmonic. Alsop has a close relationship with the London Symphony and London Philharmonic, appearing with both orchestras most seasons, as well as with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment. She is also Artist in Residence at the Southbank Centre in London.
Highlights of 2012/13 include Marin Alsop’s Viennese debut with the Vienna Symphony Orchestra at the Musikverein; a performance of the Brahms Requiem with the MDR Symphony Orchestra at the Leipzig Gewandhaus; and her debut with Orchestre National de France in Paris. In August and September 2013, Marin Alsop will be conducting two BBC Proms in London, including the Last Night of the Proms when she'll make history as the first woman to conduct this iconic evening.
Since taking up her position in Baltimore in 2007, Marin Alsop has spearheaded educational initiatives that reach more than 60,000 school and pre-school students. In 2008 she launched ‘OrchKids’, which provides music education, instruments and mentorship to the city’s neediest young people, and in 2010 the BSO Academy, where local non-professional musicians work for a week with members of the orchestra.
In 2008 Marin Alsop became a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences and, in the following year, was chosen as Musical America’s Conductor of the Year. She is the recipient of numerous awards and is the only conductor to receive the prestigious MacArthur Fellowship, given to US residents in recognition of exceptional creative work. She was inducted into the American Classical Music Hall of Fame in 2010 and was the only classical musician to be included in The Guardian’s “Top 100 women”, celebrating the centenary of International Women’s Day in 2011. In October 2012 Alsop was presented with Honorary Membership (HonRAM) of the Royal Academy of Music, London.
Alsop’s extensive discography on Naxos includes a notable set of Brahms symphonies with the London Philharmonic and a highly-praised Dvorák series with the Baltimore Symphony. The first disc of her Prokofiev symphonic cycle with the São Paulo Symphony Orchestra was Orchestral Choice in BBC Music Magazine, described as a “dramatic yet highly polished performance”. Other award-winning recordings include Bernstein’s Mass (Editor’s Choice, Gramophone Awards 2010) and Jennifer Higdon’s Percussion Concerto (Grammy Award 2010).
Born in New York City, Marin Alsop attended Yale University and received her Master's Degree from The Juilliard School. Her conducting career was launched when, in 1989, she was a prize-winner at the Leopold Stokowski International Conducting Competition and in the same year was the first woman to be awarded the Koussevitzky Conducting Prize from the Tanglewood Music Centre, where she was a pupil of Leonard Bernstein.
Last updated April 2013. Contact Opus 3 Artists to secure the most up-to-date version.
