Marin Alsop is an inspiring and powerful voice on the international music scene, a music director of vision and distinction who passionately believes that “music has the power to change lives.” She made history with her appointment as the 12th music director of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra (BSO). With her inaugural concerts in September 2007, she became the first woman to head a major American orchestra. Her success as the BSO’s music director has garnered national and international attention for her innovative programming and artistry. Alsop took up the post of principal conductor of the São Paulo Symphony Orchestra in 2012 and became music director in July 2013. She continues to steer the orchestra in its artistic and creative programming, recording ventures and in its education and outreach activities. Alsop led the orchestra on a European tour in 2012, with acclaimed performances at the BBC Proms in London and at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. Born in New York City, Marin Alsop attended Yale University and received her master’s degree from The Juilliard School. Her conducting career was launched when, in 1989, she was a prizewinner at the Leopold Stokowski International Conducting Competition and in the same year was the first woman to be awarded the Koussevitzky Conducting Prize from the Tanglewood Music Center, where she was a pupil of Leonard Bernstein. In September 2013, she made history once again as the first female conductor of the BBC’s Last Night of the Proms in London, an honour that she repeated two years later in 2015.

Since its first concert in 1954, the São Paulo Symphony Orchestra (OSESP) has developed into an institution recognized for its excellence. Having released more than 60 recordings, the orchestra has become an inseparable part of São Paulo and Brazilian culture, promoting deep cultural and social transformation. Besides touring through Latin America, the United States, Europe and Brazil, since 2008 the group has toured widely throughout the São Paulo countryside, promoting concerts, workshops, and courses in music appreciation for over 250,000 people.