Baltimore Symphony, Soulful Symphony Come Together

On Tuesday, January 16 at 8:00 p.m. at the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and Soulful Symphony come together for the State of Maryland's 21st Annual Tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Co-sponsored by the BSO and the Maryland Commission on African American History and Culture, the musical celebration marks the state's official observance of the national holiday honoring Dr. King.

Each year, politicians and civic leaders throughout Maryland gather at the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall to remember the civil rights leader's life and legacy.

PLEASE NOTE ARTIST CHANGE: Pianist Stewart Goodyear replaces Darin Atwater for Rhapsody in Blue. Mr. Atwater will serve as host for the evening's program. See below for artist biographies and complete program information.

Led by BSO Associate Conductor Andrew Constantine and hosted by renowned African-American composer Darin Atwater, this year's program features the world premiere of Mr. Atwater's Southern Folk Sketches. Divided into six "scenes," the work explores childhood moments burned into Mr. Atwater's memory, including a soulful "Southern Dawn," plaintive and elegiac "Wednesday Night Devotions" and "Salon Songs." At once deeply personal and universally understandable, Mr. Atwater sought to compose a work that spoke to the "simplicity of Southern living."

Also on the program are African-American composer George Walker's 1946 work, Lyric for Strings, and George Gershwin's iconic blend of classical and jazz, Rhapsody in Blue, featuring Stewart Goodyear at the piano. Violinist Melissa White, Junior Division winner of the 2001 Sphinx Competition, performs Max Bruch's Violin Concerto No. 1 in G Minor. Ms. White first performed with the BSO in July 2001 at the age of 16.

ABOUT SOULFUL SYMPHONY

Founded in 2000 by composer and artistic director Darin Atwater, Soulful Symphony is the nation's newest African-American symphony orchestra. Comprised of 75 musicians and vocalists, Soulful Symphony blends rhythm and blues, jazz and gospel music all within a symphonic framework for orchestra.

As a not-for-profit arts organization, Soulful Symphony is dedicated to the preservation of African-American cultural expression and to the presentation of symphonic music. Soulful Symphony is a repository for the exploration of diverse musical expressions: classical, jazz, gospel and popular forms capturing a universal language that gives all cultures common ground. In 2004, the Baltimore Symphony forged an historic joint venture with Soulful Symphony, partnering with the organization to bring their unique brand of music to new and diverse audiences throughout Maryland.

DARIN ATWATER, composer and host

Composer, conductor and pianist Darin Atwater is regarded as one of the leading artists of his generation. His skills in the idioms of classical, jazz and sacred music have earned him a distinguished international reputation. Born in Washington D.C. and raised in Prince George's County, Md., Mr. Atwater made his orchestral debut as both composer and pianist in May 1995 with the National Symphony Orchestra premiering Maschil for piano and orchestra. Engagements with major orchestras, a European tour and world premieres of his numerous compositions followed. In June of 1998 Mr. Atwater, welcomed by former President and Mrs. Clinton, performed with the Morgan State University Choir in a celebration of Gospel on the south lawn of the White House.

February 2000 marked the premiere of Song in a Strange Land, a contemporary exploration of Spirituals that featured Wynton Marsalis, Karen Clark-Sheard, Kim Burrell and the debut of Soulful Symphony. The critics' praise has been unanimous: The New York Times described him as a composer with a "muscular imagination." The Baltimore Sun wrote, "Atwater has an uncommon ear for instrumental coloring and the urban beat."

Mr. Atwater is the founder and artistic director of Soulful Symphony and composer-in-residence with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. Among his many honors and recognitions, Ebony Magazine dubbed him one of the "30 Leaders of the Future," and the Baltimore Business Journal placed him on their exclusive "40 under 40" list. Mr. Atwater is a recently appointed trustee for Maryland Citizens for the Arts and also serves on the music team at Celebration Church in Columbia, Md.

ANDREW CONSTANTINE, conductor

Having gained a reputation in Europe and the United Kingdom as a conductor of great skill, charisma, energy and versatility, Andrew Constantine and his family moved to the United States at the beginning of the 2004-05 season, when he accepted the position of Assistant Conductor of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. A year later, he was given the title of Associate Conductor and each season conducts dozens of Baltimore Symphony concerts including main series, pops, youth, and special concerts.

Born in England of Russian descent, he had the opportunity to learn from some of the greatest teachers in the music world, such as John Carewe, Norman Del Mar, and Leonard Bernstein. In 1991, Andrew Constantine won the first Donatella Flick/Accademia Italiana Conducting Competition and shortly thereafter, with the assistance of a British Council Scholarship, entered the class of conducting legend Ilya Musin at the Leningrad State Conservatory. He also had the good fortune to spend a year as Assistant Conductor to Giuseppe Sinopoli and now Mr. Constantine guest conducts throughout Europe and the United Kingdom. This past season he returned to conduct the St. Petersburg Symphony Orchestra, and regularly works with London's great orchestras such as the Philharmonia, the Royal Philharmonic and the London Symphony Orchestra.

STEWART GOODYEAR, piano

Known for imagination, a graceful, elegant style and exquisite technique, Stewart Goodyear, is an accomplished young artist whose career is on the rise. Some highlights of his season schedule this past year included his last-minute substitutions at the San Francisco Symphony under the baton of Michael Tilson Thomas and with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and Music Director Peter Oundjian as well as his return to the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra under Paavo Jarvi, and his Dallas Symphony Orchestra debut appearances.

Mr Goodyear has performed with many of major orchestras of the world -the Philadelphia Orchestra, Chicago Symphony (Barenboim), Pittsburgh Symphony (Zukerman), the San Francisco Symphony (Vanska and Tilson Thomas), the Los Angeles Philharmonic (Schwarz), the Cleveland Orchestra, the Academy of St Martin-in-the-Fields, the Montreal Symphony, and the Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra. He has a long-standing relationship with the orchestras of Toronto and New Jersey, both of which have nurtured his career from an early age.

In addition to his talents as a pianist, Mr. Goodyear is a composer and frequently performs his own works, including his solo piano work, "Variations on 'Eleanor Rigby'," which premiered at Lincoln Center in New York in August 2000, and his Piano Sonata, both of which have received continual acclaim by critics and audiences alike.

A native of Toronto, Stewart graduated with a Masters Degree from the Juilliard School of Music studying with Oxana Yablonskaya. He previously studied at the Curtis Institute of Music with Leon Fleisher, Gary Graffman and Claude Frank.

MELISSA WHITE, violin

22-year-old violinist Melissa White is a student at The Curtis Institute of Music under the direction of Ida Kavafian. The First Place Junior Division Laureate of the 4th Annual Sphinx Competition in 2001, she has been a guest artist with many of the nation's leading orchestras. Her 2006-2007 season opened with an appearance with the Chicago Sinfonietta and a return to Carnegie Hall as a guest soloist at the Annual Sphinx Gala Concert. Ms. White recently made a solo appearance with the New York Ensemble at the World Famous Apollo Theater and was awarded the 2006 Harmony Scholarship from Panasonic.

In addition to frequent solo appearances, Ms. White is an active chamber musician. She is a member of the Ritz Chamber Players in Jacksonville, Florida; Jupiter Symphony Chamber Musicians in New York; and the Harlem String Quartet, who made their Carnegie Hall debut in October 2006. As a member of the Ritz Chamber Players, Ms. White performed live at the nationally televised 2006 NAACP Image Awards.
Ms. White's recording career began at the age of 14, when she made her debut with the Czech National Symphony Orchestra and internationally acclaimed conductor Paul Freeman. Their recording of Gwenyth Walker's An American Concerto on Albany Records is available worldwide.

Along with her concert activities, in the summer Ms. White serves on the faculty of the Sphinx Performance Academy on the campus of Walnut Hill School in Natick, Mass. An important part of her career is sharing her music with young audiences and inner city school children. She conducts outreach activities around the country when she travels to perform with major symphonies. During this school year she will do extensive work with the Reading, Pa. public school system and community music programs; and finish the year by appearing as a soloist with the Reading Youth Symphony.

Ms. White performs with the Baltimore Symphony as part of the Sphinx/DaimlerChrysler Financial Services Professional Development Program. The Sphinx Organization builds diversity in classical music through in-school programs, master classes, and an annual competition for black and Hispanic youth musicians. -- www.baltimoresymphony.org