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Breaking Barriers Annual Series

Breaking Barriers Annual Series

For the first Breaking Barriers Festival, July 29–31, Alsop is curating the three days around women on the podium, honoring 20 years of the Taki Alsop Conducting Fellowship and the centenary of Margaret Hillis, the pioneering founder of the Chicago Symphony Chorus. Featured events across the series include: two CSO concerts led by Alsop, former Taki Alsop fellows Jeri Lynne Johnson and Laura Jackson, and newly named 2022 Taki Alsop fellow Anna Duczmal-Mróz; screenings of the documentary film about Alsop, The Conductor; a symposium featuring women conductors, moderated by music journalist Wynne Delacoma; a special exhibit exploring the history of women conductors in Chicago; and education and family programming, along with other ancillary programs, to be announced in the spring.
Taki Alsop Conducting Fellowship Announces Global Concert Series for 20th Anniversary Season

Taki Alsop Conducting Fellowship Announces Global Concert Series for 20th Anniversary Season

We are pleased to announce — on International Women’s Day — a series of concerts around the globe to celebrate its 20th anniversary season and the collective power of women in classical music. Performances will be held ten different major cities in the U.S. and Europe from September 2022 to May 2023. Sep 13–14: Madrid, Spain Oct 11–17: Nova Scotia, Canada Nov 12–13: Reno, NV Nov 17–18: London, UK Nov 18–22: Graz, Austria Jan 25–29: Richmond, VA Feb 10–12: Hartford, CT March 3: Philadelphia, PA April 13–14: Katowice, Poland May 3: Chicago, IL
Conductor Marin Alsop, a possible Muti successor at the CSO, has her Ravinia Festival contract extended through 2025

Conductor Marin Alsop, a possible Muti successor at the CSO, has her Ravinia Festival contract extended through 2025

By Hanna Edgar, Chicago Tribune If you miss Marin Alsop on the podium at Orchestra Hall this weekend — well, first of all, don’t. Though she and orchestra representatives won’t confirm one way or the other, Alsop, who made history as the first woman to become music director of a major American orchestra when she assumed leadership of the Baltimore Symphony in 2007, is widely assumed to be among the front-runners for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s music director post once Riccardo Muti concludes his contract extension in 2023.
Taki Alsop Conducting Fellowship Names 2022-24 Fellow and Award Winners

Taki Alsop Conducting Fellowship Names 2022-24 Fellow and Award Winners

The Taki Alsop Conducting Fellowship is pleased to announce its 2022-24 Fellow Anna Duczmal-Mróz along with two Associate Fellows Irene Delgado-Jimenez and Marie Rosenmir and three award recipients Kalena Bovell, Julia Cruz, and Anna Sułkowska-Migoń. New collaboration with AT&T's “She's Connected” program also announced, empowering women with mentorship opportunities. As part of the collaboration, Alsop and a TACF-mentored conductor will be featured in the She's Connected campaign shared across digital and social platforms.
Passing the Baton…find out on January 31…

Passing the Baton…find out on January 31…

Exit Statement from Chloe van Soeterstede, TACF Fellow 2019-2021 It was a privilege to be chosen by Marin Alsop as the Taki Alsop Conducting Fellow for 2019-2021. My tenure was full of sharp turns and novel challenges due to the Covid pandemic which took hold in 2020. From the very start I felt welcomed into the Taki Alsop Fellowship family, exchanging emails, thoughts, and advice with our community of conductors. Marin has always been there for me when I needed her support, when I had questions or doubts. When we could not meet in person during the most restrictive part of the pandemic lockdown, we instead met quite regularly on Zoom for mentoring...
Conductor conducts opera, gives birth, conducts more opera

Conductor conducts opera, gives birth, conducts more opera

Good Morning America It's still rare to see a woman conduct an opera — and rarer still to see a pregnant woman conducting an opera. That's what made Russian American conductor Lidiya Yankovskaya's December 2021 all the more eye-catching. The Chicago Opera Theater music director conducted the opening of the Mark Adamo opera "Becoming Santa Claus" in Chicago on Dec. 11.  Five days later, she gave birth. And three days after that, she was back at the podium to conduct the closing of "Becoming Santa Claus." "When I started conducting, people told me that women shouldn't be doing this job because of its physical demands," she wrote in a Twitter thread on Wednesday. "They never could explain to me what exactly those extreme demands might be — they certainly aren't much compared to childbirth!"
Alsop Named 2021-22 Harman/Eisner Artist-in-Residence by Aspen Institute

Alsop Named 2021-22 Harman/Eisner Artist-in-Residence by Aspen Institute

Marin Alsop has been named the Aspen Institute’s Harman/Eisner Artist-in-Residence for 2021-22. In the role, she will draw on her wealth of experience as an artist and thought leader to engage in critical discussions about key social and civic issues, and participate in programming and other activities in Aspen, New York, Washington, D.C., and nationwide. The Aspen Institute’s Arts Program focuses on connecting artists and citizens in addressing some of society’s most complex problems. The first event is a live discussion with former 2020-21 Harman/Eisner Artist-in-Residence Oskar Eustis as a part of the “Conversations with Great Leaders” series. To learn more about the Aspen Institute Arts Program and the Harman/Eisner Artist in Residence Program, click here.