April 16, 2012

Last Peabody Symphony concert free for students

To boost student attendance at the Peabody Symphony Orchestra concert on April 21, the last of the season, free tickets are available for students from Johns Hopkins and other colleges and universities.

Two graduate conducting majors, Stephen Mulligan and Blair Skinner, will conduct the concert, substituting for National Medal of Arts recipient James DePreist. The two are students of Gustav Meier and Markand Thakar, as well as of Distinguished Visiting Artist Marin Alsop, music director of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra.

DePreist, who was to have been at Peabody for a weeklong residency, had to bow out because of illness. The residency, made possible by the Levi Family Distinguished Visiting Artists Fund, will be rescheduled.

The revised program for the concert includes Rachmaninoff’s Symphony No. 2 in E minor, Op. 27, and Richard Strauss’ Tod und Verklarung (Death and Transfiguration), Op. 24, replacing the Bruch Violin Concerto.

“While we are disappointed that Maestro DePreist will not be with us this spring, and wish him a speedy recovery, we are excited to give two outstanding students the opportunity to conduct a public performance,” said Jeffrey Sharkey, director of the Peabody Institute.

The regular student ticket price for most Peabody concerts is $5. To reserve free tickets to the April 21 concert, students should call the Peabody Box Office at 410-234-4800.