“A huge breakthrough for the Maryland Symphony Orchestra,” reports Thao Ta on Thursday (8/2) at TV station WDVM (Maryland/south-central Pennsylvania). “The Hagerstown-based group was invited to record … part of an album by Grammy Award-winning guitarist Sharon Isbin. ’Sharon came to us and said, I love this orchestra. I think you do fabulous work,’ said Stephen Beaudoin, Executive Director of the Maryland Symphony Orchestra. ‘I’m producing a new album on this major label, and I want the Maryland Symphony Orchestra to be a part of it.’ Back in 2015, the orchestra was invited to collaborate and give a world premiere on the piece … called Affinity. ‘This piece [a guitar concerto by Chris Brubeck] marries classical music and jazz, so you get a sense of jazz influences, jazz inflections and also some classical structure and some classic riffs in the mix,’ said Beaudoin…. ‘This is the fulfillment of a long-held dream for this orchestra…. A lot of people know us in Hagerstown and Washington County and in the four-state region. With this project, the world’s going to know who the Maryland Symphony is.’ ” Elizabeth Schulze, who led the 2015 premiere of Affinity, is music director of the Maryland Symphony Orchestra.
Posted August 6, 2018
