Marin Alsop Essentials

A conductor whose gifted touch burnishes compositions from across the spectrum, Marin Alsop is notable not only for being one of a small handful of female conductors who've achieved a global reputation, but also because she's counted among the few in her profession who can claim a truly eclectic vision. Instead of branding herself a Romantic or a Modernist, she ranges freely, conducting Gershwin and James P. Johnson as well as Brahms and Bartók. No matter the aesthetic, Alsop finds the melodies in an orchestration and shapes them wonderfully, whether she's leading the London Philharmonic or the Baltimore Symphony.