On its 100th birthday, a look back at the birth of the BSO
It all started with a sort of "Kumbaya" moment. A municipal band founded by the city of Baltimore in 1914 played outdoor concerts in the summer months at the base of the Washington Monument in Mount...
View ArticleCatching up with violinist Joshua Bell, the BSO's centennial guest artist
The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra is, quite rightly, the primary star of Thursday's centennial concert at Meyerhoff Symphony Hall — 100 years to the day since the ensemble debuted. But a little extra...
View ArticleScholastic to publish new Harry Potter book
The eighth story in the Harry Potter series will be published July 31, Scholastic announced today in a press release. "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Parts I & II" by Jack Thorne is a play based...
View ArticleStation North exhibit explores Maryland's rye whiskey history
When talking to local distillers about why they want rye whiskey to reclaim its place in the spirits industry, they mention Maryland's rich history with the product. Now, an exhibition aims to...
View ArticleSeeking: kids' books with black, female protagonists
An 11-year-old girl from New Jersey named Marley Dias received national media attention this month for her drive to collect 1,000 books featuring protagonists who are black girls. "I was sick of...
View ArticleBaltimore Symphony gives festive centennial concert with accent on youth
The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra threw a 100th birthday party for itself Thursday night. About 2,100 folks turned out to help celebrate and, from the sound of things, had a good time doing so....
View ArticlePeabody Chamber Opera a mostly effective conductor for 'The Ghost Train'
Peabody Chamber Opera got up close and personal with some big trains last weekend to spin an intriguing ghost story. The company's venture into the B&O Railroad Museum was a first (I wouldn't be...
View ArticleA thoughtful revival of 'Lost in the Stars' from Washington National Opera
Prevailing wisdom contends that "Lost in the Stars," the 1949 "musical tragedy" by Kurt Weill and Maxwell Anderson about racial conflict in Apartheid-era South Africa, is severely flawed, a case of...
View ArticleMultimedia exhibit on transgender and gender-variant adults coming to Mount...
The challenges faced by transgender and gender-variant people over age 50 is the focus of a multimedia project opening March 3 in Mount Vernon. “To Survive on This Shore” features photographs of and...
View ArticleThe Knights premiere Leshnoff concerto with Gil Shaham at Shriver Hall
In a commendable move, Shriver Hall Concert Series is marking its 50th anniversary not just with a roster of top-flight artists, but new music commissioned by the organization for the celebratory...
View ArticleBaltimore Symphony offers stirring program of favorites with Marin Alsop,...
For its first program of its second century, the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra picked three golden oldies from classical music's perennial hit parade and freshened them up very nicely. Making things...
View ArticleLearn seriously cool skills at these offbeat Baltimore classes
Learning is a wonderful thing. Especially since it never stops. Sure, your school days may be in the past. But no matter your age or station, there are always new talents to acquire, new techniques to...
View ArticleNew play 'Baltimore' addresses race, will be staged at U. Md.
The University of Maryland, College Park is staging a play that explores racial tensions on a college campus that was loosely inspired by a poem written during the Harlem Renaissance by the...
View ArticleBaltimore School for the Arts alumna appears in Broadway smash 'Hamilton'
Though tickets are nigh-impossible to get for the smash Broadway hip-hop musical "Hamilton," we can live vicariously through Kamille Upshaw. The Baltimore School for the Arts alumna, who has performed...
View ArticleNBC picks some key Broadway creators for its 'Hairspray'
NBC has tapped some deep Broadway talent for its live production of the stage musical "Hairspray." Kenny Leon, who won a Tony for the recent revival of "A Raisin in the Sun," will direct the show from...
View ArticleBSO extends Jack Everly's contract, promotes Nicholas Hersh
The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, which has enjoyed a vibrant association with principal pops conductor Jack Everly since 2003, will keep it going for at least five more years. Everly's contract has...
View ArticleHarper Lee, author of classic novel 'To Kill a Mockingbird,' dies at 89
Harper Lee, the elusive novelist whose child's-eye view of racial injustice in a small Southern town, "To Kill a Mockingbird," became standard reading for millions of young people and an Oscar-winning...
View Article'Hick' at Theatre Project tells the love story of Eleanor Roosevelt and...
On March 4, 1933, the day Franklin Delano Roosevelt took his first oath of office as president, his wife Eleanor wore a ring she had recently been given by journalist Lorena Hickok. A couple of days...
View ArticleLin-Manuel Miranda's 'Hamilton' wins Kennedy Prize for Drama
Lin-Manuel Miranda's revolutionary stage musical "Hamilton" has won a Grammy, a "genius grant" from the MacArthur Foundation and now another honor — one of the largest prizes given for dramatic...
View Article'Baltimore, Our Baltimore': little heard, but feted nonetheless on its...
The student members of the Institute of Notre Dame's Select Choir know the national anthem, "The Star-Spangled Banner." And they're familiar with the state's official song, "Maryland, My Maryland." But...
View ArticleRep Stage offers visually striking journey through Antigone myth
The ancient Greeks had an enviable knack for understanding human nature and, especially, human misjudgments, the kind that can set off wave after wave of tragedy. A multilayered case in point:...
View ArticleSignature Theatre delivers welcome revival of Sondheim's 'Road Show'
It really isn't a spoiler to quote the last line of Stephen Sondheim's "Road Show," which is enjoying a rare and welcome revival at Signature Theatre: "Sooner or later we're bound to get it right."...
View Article2016 Baker Artist Awards finalists selected
Out of a field more nearly 700 entrants, 39 finalists have been selected for the 2016 Baker Artist Awards, a program of the Greater Baltimore Cultural Alliance. A total of $85,000, including the top...
View ArticleBaltimore mayoral candidates to take part in first-ever forum on arts and...
Baltimore voters can get an idea of how candidates in the mayoral race stack up when it comes to issues of the arts and culture in the city. All registered candidates have been invited to take part in...
View ArticleObama nominates Enoch Pratt CEO Carla Hayden to head Library of Congress
President Barack Obama on Wednesday nominated the longtime director of Baltimore's public library system to lead the Library of Congress, a venerable institution that has faced criticism in recent...
View ArticleHow Devin Allen's photo made it to Pope Francis' hands
Pope Francis is now familiar with Devin Allen's work. At the Vatican today, Instagram CEO Kevin Systrom presented a book of 10 striking Instagram images to the Pope in an effort to show the popular...
View ArticleTwo shows, two big personalities at the Walters
The 15th-century painter Carlo Crivelli had genius, technique and an instinct for pulling in an audience that would rival a carnival barker's.So why don't more people know his name?That's the conundrum...
View Article50 years after its premiere, Rod Roddenberry on the bold future of 'Star Trek'
Rod Roddenberry, the son of Gene Roddenberry, the legendary writer-producer of the TV series "Star Trek" (1966-1969) and "Star Trek: The Next Generation" (1987-1994), has lent his name to "Star Trek":...
View ArticleMacMillan percussion concerto, Elgar's 'Enigma' fuel hot night at the BSO
An Anglo-Saxon-Scot lineup of works packed with brilliant ideas and expressive depth fueled a hot concert from the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra Thursday night at Meyerhoff Hall. The East Coast premiere...
View ArticleBSO to highlight Beethoven, Stravinsky in 2016-2017 season
For the first season of its second century, the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra will premiere several works, bring back popular soloists and conductors, launch a new late-night series and play a lot of...
View ArticleLight City Baltimore to bring illuminated artworks to five city neighborhoods
Light City Baltimore organizers plan to illuminate the city well beyond the Inner Harbor. The festival, running March 28 through April 3, plans to bring artwork into five neighborhoods with...
View Article'Hick' effectively reclaims history of Eleanor Roosevelt, Lorena Hickok
One thing that many minorities share is a suppressed or distorted history. It can be difficult to learn about the past when the powers that be tended to marginalize the accomplishments of those outside...
View ArticleClassical guitarist Manuel Barrueco marks 25 years at Peabody, celebrates his...
Baltimore's deep-rooted classical music history -- the Peabody Institute, founded in 1857; the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, launched a century ago; etc. -- includes an impressive chapter that began in...
View Article'The Normal Heart' receives telling revival from Vagabond Players
The more distance we get from the appalling early days of the AIDS crisis, you might think that "The Normal Heart," Larry Kramer's tense play about that time and its seemingly unstoppable toll, would...
View ArticleBaltimore Concert Opera provides rare, welcome encounter with Puccini's 'Edgar'
One of my favorite Woody Allen movies may offer a way to rescue Puccini's "Edgar" from neglect, even scorn. Stay with me here. In "What's Up, Tiger Lily?" Allen took a James Bond-inspired Japanese film...
View ArticleFree admission to Lewis Museum available to some credit card holders
Getting in to Baltimore’s Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History & Culture just got a little cheaper for select credit card customers. Holders of Bank of America and Merrill...
View Article'Motown the Musical' rolls into Baltimore
The message was loud, clear and irresistible: "Calling out around the world: Are you ready for a brand-new beat?" That opening line from the Martha and the Vandellas 1964 single "Dancing in the Street"...
View ArticleSara Jobin will become first woman to conduct an opera at Baltimore's Lyric...
The Lyric Opera House has been galvanized by the voices of some extraordinary women during its 122-year history, starting with Nellie Melba on opening night and going on to include such luminaries as...
View ArticleGraham, Trifonov, Venice Baroque Orchestra on Shriver Hall 2016-17 lineup
Shriver Hall Concert Series has put together a sterling season for 2016-2017 that includes the Baltimore debuts of sumptuous-voiced mezzo-soprano Susan Graham and an ensemble of winds and strings from...
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