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Marin Alsop In 2007, Marin Alsop became music director of the Baltimore Symphony, making her the first woman to head a major American orchestra. She was named a 2005 MacArthur Fellow, the first conductor ever to receive the award.
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Marin Alsop

In 2007, Marin Alsop became music director of the Baltimore Symphony.

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Friday

Shall We Dance: Balanchine Sets Tchaikovsky In Motion

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

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AFP/AFP/Getty Images

Deceptive Cadence

Shall We Dance: Balanchine Sets Tchaikovsky In Motion

Conductor Marin Alsop muses on the power of ballet and her memories of watching choreographer George Balanchine bring the music of Tchaikovsky to life with the New York City Ballet.

Shall We Dance: Balanchine Sets Tchaikovsky In Motion

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Saturday

Hammered: Pounding Out The Excess In Mahler's Sixth Symphony

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

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Izabel Zambrzycki/Baltimore Symphony Orchestra

Deceptive Cadence

Hammered: Pounding Out The Excess In Mahler's Sixth Symphony

At a time when we have become immune to shock and where hyperbole rules, Marin Alsop argues that Mahler's Sixth Symphony provides the perfect soundtrack.

Hammered: Pounding Out The Excess In Mahler's Sixth Symphony

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Saturday

A Parting Gift — With Legs — For Marin Alsop At The Cabrillo Festival

Marin Alsop and John Adams at a performance of Adams' Dr. Atomic at the Cabrillo Festival in 2008. Cabrillo Festival hide caption

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Cabrillo Festival

Deceptive Cadence

A Parting Gift — With Legs — For Marin Alsop At The Cabrillo Festival

After 25 years directing the contemporary music festival in California, Marin Alsop bids farewell with Lola Montez Does the Spider Dance, a new piece composed for her by John Adams.

A Parting Gift — With Legs — For Marin Alsop At The Cabrillo Festival

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Saturday

Rachmaninoff: An American Without Assimilation

Serge Rachmaninoff, photographed in 1919, somewhere outside of San Francisco. Wikimedia Commons hide caption

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Wikimedia Commons

Deceptive Cadence

Rachmaninoff: An American Without Assimilation

Baltimore Symphony Orchestra Music Director Marin Alsop muses on both the Russian and American sides of Sergei Rachmaninoff and his Third Symphony.

Rachmaninoff: An American Without Assimilation

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Saturday

In 'Candide,' Bernstein Fuses Philosophy And Comedy

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

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Randy Brooke/WireImage

Deceptive Cadence

In 'Candide,' Bernstein Fuses Philosophy And Comedy

Conductor Marin Alsop explains how her mentor, Leonard Bernstein, probes the essential questions of humanity in his comic operetta Candide.

In 'Candide,' Bernstein Fuses Philosophy And Comedy

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Tuesday

Monday

First Loves: Conductor Marin Alsop - Bowled Over By Brahms

Conductor Marin Alsop was bewitched by Brahms at an early age. Grant Leighton hide caption

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Grant Leighton

Deceptive Cadence

First Loves: Conductor Marin Alsop - Bowled Over By Brahms

The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra conductor recalls the moment -- many years ago in a summer music camp -- when she fell in love with music by Brahms, and the idea of becoming a musician.

Brahms: Sextet in B - 1. Allegro

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Saturday

Marin Alsop's Shared Musical Roots

Marin Alsop on Music

Marin Alsop's Shared Musical Roots

The Baltimore Symphony conductor chooses a season of music built on the belief that understanding where we come from, and celebrating diversity, can create a sense of continuity, history and belonging — not to mention some great concerts.

Hear Marin Alsop and Scott Simon Discuss Gershwin On 'Weekend Edition Saturday'

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Friday

An Oasis Of New Music At The Cabrillo Festival

Conductor Marin Alsop (right) with composer Christopher Rouse at the Cabrillo Music Festival Cabrillo Festival/R.R. Jones hide caption

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Cabrillo Festival/R.R. Jones

Marin Alsop on Music

An Oasis Of New Music At The Cabrillo Festival

Making its home in the quaint, quirky city of Santa Cruz, Calif., the Cabrillo Festival is a showcase for contemporary music. It draws many of today's important composers and musicians.

An Oasis Of New Music At The Cabrillo Festival

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Saturday

Marin Alsop on Music

Jennifer Higdon And Me: A Musical Friendship

Marin Alsop says she can't remember the first time she met composer Jennifer Higdon, and both simply believe they've always known each other. Oddly, the two women have never had a conversation about gender in the classical-music world — that is, until now. Higdon's Violin Concerto is set to be performed by Hilary Hahn next month.

Jennifer Higdon And Me: A Musical Friendship

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Saturday

Marin Alsop on Music

Copland: Early Music From America's Composer

Conductor Marin Alsop examines the rarely heard music from early in Aaron Copland's career. With an ear toward Copland's bold and sometimes jazzy rhythms, Alsop says that listeners can hear hints of the wide expanses that would later open up in music such as Appalachian Spring.

Copland: Early Music From America's Composer

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Saturday

Marin Alsop on Music

Revisiting Bernstein's Immodest 'Mass'

Leonard Bernstein wrote his Mass to memorialize John F. Kennedy. But conductor Marin Alsop says that the dizzyingly eclectic work reveals more about its composer than anyone else.

Revisiting Bernstein's Immodest 'Mass'

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Friday

Marin Alsop on Music

Robert Schumann: Music Amid The Madness

Marin Alsop, meet Robert Schumann. The Baltimore Symphony conductor reconnects with the composer's symphonies, probing for a deeper meaning within this widely performed but still misunderstood music. The Symphony No. 2, Alsop says, traces Schumann's emotional frailty.

Hear Marin Alsop discuss Schumann with NPR's Scott Simon

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Friday

Marin Alsop on Music

Dvorak's Symphonic Journey to the 'New World'

Czech composer Antonin Dvorak wrote his New World Symphony in New York. Conductor Marin Alsop sees the work as Dvorak's symphony of self-discovery, filled with the sounds of new places and nostalgic nods to his homeland.

Hear Alsop discuss Dvorak on 'Weekend Edition Saturday'

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Saturday

Music Interviews

Symphonic Forensics: Alsop's 'CSI Beethoven'

Armed with a team of forensic specialists and a full orchestra, Baltimore Symphony conductor Marin Alsop investigates the deafness and demise of one of the greatest composers of all time, in concerts called "CSI Beethoven."

Symphonic Forensics: Alsop's 'CSI Beethoven'

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Sunday

Saturday

Music

Bela Bartok: Finding a Voice Through Folk Music

Every young composer searches for a unique voice. Conductor Marin Alsop says Bela Bartok found his in the hills and villages of rural Hungary. The songs he collected from peasants infused the spirit of his music.

Hear Alsop discuss Bartok on 'Weekend Edition Saturday'

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Friday

Marin Alsop on Music

Breaking Through to Bartok

Conductor Marin Alsop recognizes the challenging aspects of Bela Bartok's music. But after presiding over a Bartok festival this spring, she came to a deeper understanding of the Hungarian composer's music, which she describes as a major influence on her own career.

Hear Alsop discuss Bartok on 'Weekend Edition Saturday'

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Saturday

Music

Brahms: Breaking the Mold Beethoven Built

Johannes Brahms was stymied by the shadow of Beethoven. It took him over 20 years to write his first symphony, but conductor Marin Alsop says it was worth the wait. Her personal connection to Brahms led her to record all four of his symphonies with the London Philharmonic.

Hear Alsop discuss Brahms on 'Weekend Edition Saturday'

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Saturday

Marin Alsop on Music

Rimsky-Korsakov Lets the Symphony Tell the Story

Storytellers of the Middle East have been retelling the tales of Sinbad and Aladdin. But according to legend, the first was a young bride named Scheherazade. Rimsky-Korsakov spins the tale in music.

Alsop discusses Scheherazade on 'Weekend Edition Saturday'

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Music

'Scheherazade,' 1001 Nights Retold in a Symphony

For centuries, storytellers of the Middle East have been retelling the tales of Sinbad and Aladdin. But the first teller of those tales, according to legend, was a young bride named Scheherazade. Rimsky-Korsakov spins the tale in music. Marin Alsop conducts.

Alsop discusses Scheherazade on 'Weekend Edition Saturday'

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Saturday

Music

The Primitive Pulse of Stravinsky's 'Rite of Spring'

The alien harmonies and jagged rhythms of Igor Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring signalled the birth of modern music in 1913. Conductor Marin Alsop says the rambunctious score still sounds fresh today.

The Primitive Pulse of Stravinsky's 'Rite of Spring'

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Friday

Marin Alsop on Music

Getting Hooked on the 'Rite' Sound

Igor Stravinsky's exotic, propulsive ballet The Rite of Spring captured conductor Marin Alsop's imagination at an early age. She says the music's "swing and sheer abandon" got her hooked, and the orchestra became her passion.

Hear Alsop discuss Stravinsky on Weekend Edition Saturday

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Friday

Marin Alsop on Music

Mahler's Fifth Symphony: The Everest of Music

Even as a young man, Mahler was after the big picture. When other twentysomethings might have been writing lighthearted music, Mahler was trying to solve the riddles of the universe through his epic symphonies. They were vehicles for him to express his beliefs and pose questions.

Hear Alsop discuss Mahler on Weekend Edition Saturday

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