The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra recently collaborated with Simone Dinnerstein to bring the pianist to the Maryland Correctional Institution for Women in Jessup, Maryland, for a recital of Bach and Schubert. The October 23 concert was timed near Dinnerstein’s three performances of Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 23 with the orchestra at Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall and the Music Center at Strathmore. “We’re thrilled to allow such an icon to come inside the fence for our staff and inmates,” said MCI-W Warden Carroll Parish. “We are grateful to the Department of Correctional Services for partnering with us to make this possible. There were a lot of logistics involved—such as figuring out how to get a grand piano through security,” said Jeff Counts, the BSO’s vice president of artistic planning. Dinnerstein, who frequently plays in nursing homes, schools, and community centers, gave the first classical-music performance in the Louisiana state prison system when she performed at the Avoyelles Correctional Center.
Posted October 23, 2009
