[Dixielandjazz] Marin Alsop

[Ed Danielson]

The controversy surrounding Marin Alsop's appointment to the Baltimore 
Symphony is a little surprising, to me at least.  Alsop spent several years 
as the well-liked music director and principal conductor of the Colorado 
Symphony, a very good (but perhaps not great) orchestra.  And, though I 
don't mean to belittle anyone, I'd never heard the Baltimore Symphony ranked 
among the top American orchestras, either, although I'm sure it's excellent.

I always have to chuckle at these rankings, because they seem awfully 
pretentious, but according to the American Orchestra Union, the top ten in 
1996 were:
1. Chicago Symphony Orchestra/ Daniel Barenboin
2. New York Philharmonic/ Kurt Masur
3. Boston Symphony Orchestra/ Seiji Ozawa
4. Philadelphia Orchestra/ Wolfgang Sawallisch
5. Cleveland Orchestra/ Christoph von Dohnanyi
6. Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra/ Hans Vonk
7. Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra/ Lorin Mazel
8. Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra/ Jesus Lopez-Cobos
9. San Francisco Symphony/ Michael Tilson Thomas
10. Minesota Symphony Orchestra

St. Louis surprised me a little, but the other orchestras are always ranked 
way up there.

Alsop did a great job here in Denver, improving the orchestra and expanding 
the fan base despite financial problems.  She is an avid jazz fan.  While in 
Denver, she played violin in a swing jazz ensemble.  In 1992, she recorded 
an album called "Victory Stride," conducting the Concordia Orchestra playing 
the orchestral works of James P. Johnson; it was nicely done and well 
received.

http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&token=ADFEAEE4781ED346AE7120C991294BDCA06AA551FE4BF59A1321435992B63E45910079F952FC9181B6E577B666ADFF2EA1160ED9C9ED5CFFDC765D40&uid=CAW060507221256&sql=10:mwaqoarauijd~T0

She has played on albums by Mel Tormé and Nancy Wilson, and conducted an 
orchestral album by violinist Mark O'Connor.

In my book, she's a class act.  Baltimore should be glad to have her.

Ed Danielson