Marin Alsop Leads BSO in Music from Film ALEXANDER NEVSKY, Now thru 1/13

Irina Tchistjakova, mezzo-soprano: Irina Tchistjakova graduated from the Gnesin Russian Academy of Music in Moscow in 1989. In the previous year she also became a principal soloist at the Theatre-Studio of the Gnesin Academy of Music and at the Moscow Municipal Theatre 'New Opera'.

Her career highlights include Tchaikovsky's Moscow Cantanta with the Bern Symphonie Orchester, Rusalka with the Bayerischer Rundfunk, Larina in Eugene Onegin at the Teatro de la Maestranza in Seville and with Maestro Ozawa in Japan, Kindertotenlieder with the Bergen PO, War and Peace and Pique Dame at the Bastille, Jean d'Arc at the Montpellier Opera, the Death in Le Rossignol at the BBC Proms, and Alexander Nevsky at the Tonhalle in Dusseldorf, with the Navarra Symphony Orchestra, the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington conducted by Leonard Slatkin, and in a recorded concert with VARA Radio at the Royal Concertgebouw in Amsterdam.

Recent engagements include Larina in Eugene Onegin with the Cincinnati Opera, Beethoven 9 with the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra, Verdi's Requiem with the Noord Nederlands Orkest and Ivan The Terrible with the Navarra Symphony Orchestra.

Ms. Tchistjakova's recording credits include a CD of Verdi Arias on Capriccio, the role of Azucena in Il Trovatore for Laserlight Classics and Prokofiev's On guard for peace with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra for Chandos Records.

During the coming seasons Irina will be singing Verdi's Requiem with the Mozarteum Orchester Salzburg, Pique Dame with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and Alexander Nevsky with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and Orquesta Sinfónica de Navarra.

Baltimore Choral Arts Society-Tom Hall, director: The Baltimore Choral Arts Society, now in its 46th season, is one of Maryland's premier cultural institutions. The Symphonic Chorus, Full Chorus, Orchestra and Chamber Chorus perform throughout the mid-Atlantic region, as well as in Washington, DC, New York and Europe.

For the past 15 years, WMAR Television has featured Choral Arts in an hour-long special, "Christmas with Choral Arts," which won an Emmy in 2006. Mr. Hall and the chorus were also featured in a PBS documentary called "Jews and Christians: A Journey of Faith," broadcast nationwide and on National Public Radio in 2001. On local radio, Mr. Hall is the host of "Choral Arts Classics," a monthly program on WYPR that features the Choral Arts Chorus and Orchestra and he is the Culture Editor on WYPR's "Maryland Morning with Sheilah Kast."

Baltimore Choral Arts' latest CD is "Christmas at America's First Cathedral," released in 2010. A recording with Dave Brubeck, featuring Brubeck's oratorio, "The Gates of Justice," was released internationally in 2004. Mr. Hall produced "Let Freedom Ring!," a highly successful recording featuring the Washington Men's Camerata, as well the soundtracks for "Legends" on The Learning Channel.

Acclaimed artists collaborating with Choral Arts have included Chanticleer, Dave Brubeck, the King's Singers, Peter Schickele, Sweet Honey in the Rock and many others.

Tom Hall is one of the most highly regarded performers in choral music today. Appointed Music Director in 1982, he has added more than 100 new works to the BCAS repertoire and he has premiered works by many contemporary composers, including Peter Schickele, Libby Larsen, Robert Sirota and Rosephanye Dunn Powell.

Mr. Hall is also active as a guest conductor, including appearances with the Handel and Haydn Society in Boston, the Choral Arts Society of Philadelphia, Musica Sacra in New York and Britten Sinfonia in Canterbury, England. Mr. Hall has prepared choruses for Leonard Bernstein, Robert Shaw, Helmuth Rilling, and served for 10 years as the Chorus Master of the Baltimore Opera Company.

COMPLETE PROGRAM DETAILS

Classical Concert Series: Alexander Nevsky

Friday, January 11, 2013 at 8 p.m.-Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall (JMSH)
Saturday, January 12, 2013 at 8 p.m.-Music Center at Strathmore
Sunday, January 13, 2013 at 3 p.m.-JMSH

Marin Alsop, conductor
Irina Tchistjakova, mezzo-soprano
Baltimore Choral Arts Society
Prokofiev: Alexander Nevsky

Tickets range from $28 to $63 and are available through the BSO Ticket Office: call 410.783.8000 or visit BSOmusic.org.