Mso

Tamara Nuzzaci Park is leaving her job as executive director of the Maryland Symphony Orchestra next month. Park, who was hired for the position in August 2011, said the MSO's board of directors has formed a search committee to look for her replacement. Her final day as executive director will be May 17. According to MSO officials and Bravo, a publication of the MSO, Park said she and her husband have always dreamed of living in the mountains of Colorado and will be moving there.

The holiday rush slowed to a more relaxed pace inside the Washington County Museum of Fine Arts on Sunday afternoon when a Maryland Symphony Orchestra recital offered the sounds of Robert Schumann and Johannes Brahms. The MSO recitals at the museum began when orchestra was celebrating its 25th anniversary and the museum was marking its 75th anniversary, according to Sandy Wantz, chairperson of the museum's program and education committee. All musicians in the MSO are made aware of the recitals and musicians usually submit demos to be considered for the performances, said Wantz, explaining that the recitals started about five years ago. The piano quintet performing at Sunday afternoon's recital included Rebecca Racusin, Sarah D'Angelo, Dana Rokosny, Jessica Sammis and Berenika Schmitz.

MSO to perform Maryland Symphony Orchestra will perform under the baton of Maestro Barry Tuckwell Saturday, Sept. 13, at Municipal Stadium, 274 E. Memorial Boulevard in Hagerstown. Gates open at 6 p.m. The concert begins at 7:30 p.m. The program will feature selections of American folk music, including "Gettysburg Suite" from the movie "Gettysburg," "Battle Hymn of the Republic," "When Johnny Comes Marching Home," "Lincoln Portrait" and "America the Beautiful. " Ronald F. Maxwell, director of the movie "Gettysburg," will narrate Copland's "Lincoln Portrait" and Edelman's "Gettysburg Suite.

By KATE COLEMAN Staff Writer The annual Maryland Symphony Orchestra performances at Antietam National Battlefield have become a local holiday tradition. Thousands of people - performers as well as concertgoers - have memories of the music, the fireworks and the huge American flag flying over hallowed ground during the past 11 years. Deborah Stotlemyer, MSO's assistant principal second violin, remembers every Salute to Independence concert at Antietam. Some stand out. "I remember being pregnant," she said of the first battlefield performance in 1986.

Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley will narrate a performance at the Maryland Symphony Orchestra's annual “Salute to Independence” concert next month. O'Malley will narrate Aaron Copland's “Lincoln Portrait,” an orchestral work that “incorporates the reading of excerpts from Lincoln's great documents,” according to the MSO. The concert will be July 7 at 7:30 p.m. at Antietam National Battlefield in Sharpsburg. In a statement issued by the MSO, O'Malley said: “I'm honored to serve as guest narrator and have the opportunity to bring the inspirational words of President Lincoln to life.

HAGERSTOWN - The Maryland Symphony Orchestra's conductor has signed on for another four seasons. The contract of Elizabeth Schulze, who started as MSO music director in 1999, has been extended through the 2011-12 season, according to an MSO news release. "We get a sense from our musicians that they enjoy working with her," Brendan Fitzsimmons, president of the MSO board, said Wednesday. Schulze is out of town, Fitzsimmons said, but she will return to direct the MSO during holiday concerts Dec. 16 and 17, he said.

HAGERSTOWN -- The Maryland Symphony Orchestra isn't canceling concerts or programs this year, but is cutting costs to counteract a slumping economy, orchestra officials said Thursday. MSO Executive Director Andrew Kipe said the symphony, which has a budget of almost $1.3 million, is projecting a record $200,000 deficit at the end of this fiscal year, about twice its typical level. The MSO, a nonprofit organization, expects to make up about $100,000 in various ways. Salaries of top employees, including the executive director, are being cut by 5 percent.

By KAREN MASTERSON Staff Writer In commemoration of the 135th observance of the Battle of Antietam, a Civil War concert and fireworks display will be held Saturday, Sept. 13, at Municipal Stadium, representatives of the Maryland Symphony Orchestra said Monday. The performance will feature Civil War-era songs such as "Battle Hymn of the Republic" and "When Johnny Comes Marching Home," to a backdrop of synchronized fireworks, MSO officials said. "We hope the concert will encourage tourists here for Antietam to also visit our fair city," Hagerstown Mayor Robert E. Bruchey II told a small crowd gathered at the stadium.

This weekend marks the return of the Maryland Symphony's "All Orchestral" program, spotlighting the orchestra's own musicians. It's a chance to truly appreciate the orchestra as a whole, said Music Director Elizabeth Schulze. For their part, players appreciate being part of the MSO. "I love it," said Joseph Lovinsky, a Northern Virginia resident and the MSO's principal horn player since 1997. Lovinsky is also principal horn player of the U.S. Army Band and Orchestra "Pershing's Own," the Army Brass Quintet and the Washington (D.C.

Michael Jonnes, who led the Springfield (Mass.) Symphony Orchestra for 15 years, has been named the Maryland Symphony Orchestra's new executive director. MSO Board President Dori Nipps said Wednesday that the search committee liked Jonnes' depth of experience. Jonnes succeeds Tamara Nuzzaci Park, who said she is moving to Colorado to set up a consulting business to assist music festivals and to work with other organizations. In addition to his years with the Springfield Symphony, Jonnes has worked in the industry for many years.

Orange and red are in style this season, including together, according to one of the mistresses of ceremonies for Sunday's Fashion in the Know show at Fountain Head Country Club. Women modeled fashions from Lena's of Hagerstown and Aspire, a women's clothing boutique in Frederick, Md. In addition to clothes, handbags and jewelry were highlighted. “Love both of the boutiques,” said Kathy Tierney, who sat at one of the back tables watching the models strut on the runway before walking through the crowd of tables.

The excitement of four young vocalists was injected into a Sunday performance of the Maryland Symphony Orchestra as the group performed works from Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Giuseppe Verdi and others. The vocalists were from the Curtis Opera Theatre, which is the performing entity of the Curtis Institute of Music's Vocal Studies Department. Sarah Shafer and Sean Michael Plumb got things started as the orchestra performed works from Mozart's “The Marriage of Figaro.” MSO Music Director Elizabeth Schulze said “The Marriage of Figaro” is about a count who decides to impose a feudal lord's right to check out a fiancée before her marriage.

Russian-born pianist Vassily Primakov said playing Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's music is challenging, especially considering the type of piano the composer used. Primakov said Mozart's piano would have weighed between 100 and 150 pounds when Mozart composed his Concerto for Piano No. 27 in B-flat Major. The Steinway piano Primakov played Sunday afternoon at The Maryland Theatre weighed about 900 pounds. Primakov said the weight difference between the two pianos means Primakov has to impose a lot of control over his instrument to get Mozart's sound.

An audience comprising children, parents and grandparents gathered Saturday night at The Maryland Theatre for what patrons described as a joyous beginning to the holiday season. The Maryland Symphony Orchestra's annual Home for the Holidays concert included favorites such as “Winter Wonderland” and “White Christmas.” The concert will be held again Sunday at 3 p.m. “It is a tradition, and many people bring their families. It is an opportunity to ring in the season. It is a real way to bring everybody together, to greet your neighbors and say happy holidays,” said Tamara Nuzzaci Park, executive director of the MSO. Park said she was thrilled to have the Northern Middle School's girls ensemble perform at the concert this year.

Christmas trees, twinkling lights, mistletoe, candy canes and stockings hung with care - all are traditions of the December holiday season. The Maryland Symphony Orchestra has its own holiday tradition. “Home for the Holidays,” the MSO's 25th annual Christmas concert, will celebrate the season at The Maryland Theatre this weekend. There are traditions within that tradition. The concert is an opportunity to showcase the talent and dedication of our community's musicians, of all ages, in a musical celebration of the season, Music Director Elizabeth Schulze wrote in an email.

The holiday rush slowed to a more relaxed pace inside the Washington County Museum of Fine Arts on Sunday afternoon when a Maryland Symphony Orchestra recital offered the sounds of Robert Schumann and Johannes Brahms. The MSO recitals at the museum began when orchestra was celebrating its 25th anniversary and the museum was marking its 75th anniversary, according to Sandy Wantz, chairperson of the museum's program and education committee. All musicians in the MSO are made aware of the recitals and musicians usually submit demos to be considered for the performances, said Wantz, explaining that the recitals started about five years ago. The piano quintet performing at Sunday afternoon's recital included Rebecca Racusin, Sarah D'Angelo, Dana Rokosny, Jessica Sammis and Berenika Schmitz.

The Maryland Symphony Orchestra Guild hosted “An Elegant Evening,” the group's 30th annual ball and auction, Saturday at Fountain Head Country Club. In recent years, the ball has been punctuated by elaborate themes. At “Egypt, Jewel of the Nile,” guests were greeted outdoors by a large, stately camel and then led inside to a Bedouin tent, hookah pipes and a mural of King Tut. At “Puttin' on the Ritz,” they posed for pictures alongside a shiny 1939 Buick, then stepped away from the paparazzi-like camera flashes onto a red carpet where men in top hats and white gloves tended to their needs.

The Maryland Symphony Orchestra enhanced the experience for concertgoers over the weekend by adding visual elements to its musical performances. For its masterworks concerts over the weekend at The Maryland Theatre, the orchestra wanted to bring local students into the process by having them create artwork to illustrate the music. MSO Music Director Elizabeth Schulze talked to Barbara Ingram School for the Arts students about the music of composers Antonio Vivaldi and Astor Piazzolla, whose works were featured in “A Soloist for All Seasons” concert Saturday and Sunday at the theater.