Marin Alsop

Honorary Degree Recipient

Doctor of Humane Letters
College of Liberal Arts, October 6, 2009

Marin Alsop, music director of the Baltimore Symphony, is the first woman music director of a major American orchestra. She is considered to be among the most visionary and innovative of conductors today. She is an internationally acclaimed artist-conductor whose creativity crosses musical styles and genres. She is known for her mentorship to young musicians, universally recognized as a role model for contributing to the public good, and highly valued as a spokesperson for American music and the place of classical music in society. The list of her outstanding accomplishments is long and impressive. In 2009, she was named Conductor of the Year by Musical America. She is the founder of OrchKids, a music education program for inner city Baltimore children. She has been the guest conductor at numerous major orchestras, including Chicago, Philadelphia, New York, Los Angeles, London Symphony, London Philharmonic, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Orchestre de Paris, and La Scala. She is the first musician ever to be invited to attend and speak at the World Economic Forum in Davos Switzerland. Her address included four topics: role models for the next generation; leadership and the musical mind; women and leadership; and motivation in the workplace. She is the first conductor to receive the MacArthur Fellowship and the first artist to win both the Artist of the Year from Gramophone Magazine and the Royal Philharmonic Society Conductor Award. She is also the first woman ever to win the coveted Koussevitzky Conducting Prize from Tanglewood Music Center. In 2008, she was inducted as a fellow into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Maestra Alsop will be the keynote speaker for the Fall School of Music Convocation at the University of Minnesota.

Biographies are as-of time of award presentation.