Ballerinas of the New York City Ballet perform Serenade by George Balanchine at the Mariinsky theatre in St.Petersburg, July 30, 2003. AFP/AFP/Getty Images hide caption
Marin Alsop Marin Alsop artist page: interviews, features and/or performances archived at NPR Music
Marin Alsop is the music director of the Baltimore Orchestra Symphony. Alessandra Fratus/Courtesy of the artist hide caption
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra percussionist John Locke stands beside conductor Marin Alsop, who holds the giant hammer Gustav Mahler includes in his Sixth Symphony. Izabel Zambrzycki/Baltimore Symphony Orchestra hide caption
Tanesha Mitchell, one of 80 amateur musicians who participated in the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra's Academy Week, describes the experience as life-changing. Richard Anderson Photography hide caption
Marin Alsop and John Adams at a performance of Adams' Dr. Atomic at the Cabrillo Festival in 2008. Cabrillo Festival hide caption
A Parting Gift — With Legs — For Marin Alsop At The Cabrillo Festival
Conductor Marin Alsop (right) with composer Christopher Rouse at the Cabrillo Music Festival Cabrillo Festival/R.R. Jones hide caption
From a 2012 New York Philharmonic production of Candide, Marin Alsop conducts a cast that includes (from right) Kristin Chenoweth, Jeff Blumenkrantz, Paul Groves and Janine LaManna. Randy Brooke/WireImage hide caption
Soviet composer Dmitri Shostakovich's once brilliant career took a dive after the official party paper criticized one of his operas in 1936. Shostakovich responded with his powerful Fifth Symphony. Central Press/Getty Images hide caption
Titania awakes clinging rapturously to Bottom, still wearing the donkey's head, in Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. Mendelssohn wrote music for a production of the play in 1843. Henry Fuseli/Getty Images hide caption
Gustav Mahler wanted each of his symphonies to contain a world of emotions and ideas. Library of Congress hide caption
Gustav Mahler wanted each of his symphonies to contain a world of emotions and ideas. Library of Congress hide caption
Benjamin Britten takes a cup of tea during rehearsals for his War Requiem at Coventry Cathedral, in Coventry, England in May, 1962. Erich Auerbach/Getty Images hide caption
Consumed By Violence, With Hope For Peace: Britten's 'War Requiem'
Robert Spano, music director of the Aspen Music Festival and School, conducts the Aspen Chamber Symphony. He is a fan of the Third Symphony by Aaron Copland. /Alex Irvin hide caption
Stride piano pioneer James P. Johnson had dreams of becoming a successful symphonic composer. William Gottlieb hide caption
Treasures In The Attic: Finding A Jazz Master's Lost Orchestral Music
Tell us your hopes for classical music in 2013. Lalito/iStockphoto.com hide caption
Marin Alsop conducted the Sao Paulo Symphony Orchestra in a beachfront concert Sunday for 20,000 people in Santos, Brazil. Desiree Furoni hide caption
