Fourteen years after Marin Alsop took the podium of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra--the first woman to lead any major U.S. orchestra--she’ll conduct her last concert as music director a week from Saturday. Juneteenth honors the day in 1865 enslaved Blacks in Texas learned they were free--and the concert will start with music commissioned from Morgan State professor James Lee III and hip-hop artist Wordsmith:

“This is a bold statement that they’re making allowing James and I to premiere a piece that’s done by a Black songwriter like myself and a black composer [?] and James, and again with this being the Marin festival, this should be about her, it just shows you what she’s about, she’s always about championing others and progress.”

Then BSO vice-president Allison Burr-Livingstone tells about the Marin Festival, and some milestones.

Links: Pratt Library: In Conversation with the BSO; Marin Alsop retrospective events timeline, BSO Gala on MPT, BSO Offstage, Final BSO Sessions, Wordsmith, James Lee III,

Do you have a question or comment about a show or a story idea to pitch? Contact On the Record at: Senior Supervising Producer, Maureen Harvie she/her/hers [email protected] 410-235-1903 Senior Producer, Melissa Gerr she/her/hers [email protected] 410-235-1157 Producer Sam Bermas-Dawes he/him/his [email protected] 410-235-1472