CEO Mark Hanson: The new era for the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra

By Tom Hall,

Teria Rogers, Malarie Pinkard-Pierre, Rob Sivak

Published January 13, 2023 at 12:32 PM EST

The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra (BSO) has been recognized for more than a century as one of America’s premier orchestras and one of Maryland’s most important cultural institutions. The orchestra is internationally renowned and locally admired for its performances and recordings and its community and youth-oriented educational programs. (photo courtesy BSO)

We open this segment of Midday with music by Antonin Dvorak, from his Symphony No. 9 ("From the New World") performed by the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra.

Joining Tom now is Mark Hanson. Last spring, he was appointed the President and CEO of the BSO, and job number one for him was hiring a new music director.

In July, the BSO announced it has signed a five year contract with Jonathon Heyward, a 30 year-old African American musician who grew up in Charleston, South Carolina. He will become the first Black maestro to lead a major symphony in the United States.