MarinAlsop

Press

• Philadelphia Orchestra

  Carnegie Hall

  Feb 2026

  • Adams dedicated his work to Alsop; in his composer’s note, he calls her, “one of the very few conductors whom I can trust to do the right thing with what I’ve written.” Her work here fully justified his faith in her. She made the large orchestra play with the unanimity of purpose of a big band; the work’s ten-minute span seemed to contract into a single, impactful moment.

    • Musical America
    • 06 April 2026

  • Marin Alsop brings so much to music, but her feel for rhythm is spectacular. ... The concert popped with energy and rhythmic vitality, even in its most lyrical moments. [Adams:] Alsop timed all this stop-and-go perfectly, as well as the hairpin turns of energy and mood. The orchestra was ever alert and reveled in the colors and the complexity of Adams’s score. [Prokofiev:] a viscerally and emotionally satisfying performance of selections from Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet.

    • Seen and Heard International
    • 06 April 2026

  • For this particular suite of Prokofiev’s powerful and oft-played ballet score, Alsop herself handpicked the musical selections, which collectively amounted to a richly comprehensive musical tapestry that hit with surprising dramatic impact. Throughout the concert, the players responded under Alsop’s baton with precision and vitality, as if to pay homage — with utmost emphasis — to one of our most highly regarded and hardest working maestros.

    • Interludes
    • 06 April 2026

  • [Adams:] Alsop’s intensely assured directing style maintained a precisely defined, suspenseful pulse and drew wonderfully transparent textures from the huge orchestral forces. [Gershwin:] Throughout the whole performance, Alsop and the Philadelphians played a major role as a resplendent and highly responsive percussive partner, especially in the relentlessly paced finale. Orchestral highlights of the movement included the lush statements of the strings, the nostalgic echoes of the flute and the final, hammering strokes of the timpani. [Prokofiev:] the twelve-part sequence emerged with a keen sense of narrative drama. Conducting from memory, Alsop elicited a vibrant, tightly controlled interpretation that highlighted the ensemble’s precision and broad expressive range. Under her authoritative baton, the musicians successfully conjured up every mood, character and incident in each of the well-known tableaux.

    • Bachtrack
    • 03 April 2026

  • But, the real stunner last night was Prokofiev’s “Romeo and Juliet”, in a suite of Alsop’s own making. Conducting from memory with bristling energy and fierce conviction, Marin was in complete command. With selections both familiar (“Montagues and Capulets”) and fresh (“Dance of the Antilles Girls”) the music was alternately shocking and transporting. Having fought long and hard for herself and many other women conductors – a fight Alsop still wages through her Purple Baton initiative – watching the Philadelphia players follow her every move felt like a triumph, on so many levels. As James Brown once sang: “Just open up the door/And I’ll get it myself.” Brava, Maestra.

    • Feast of Music
    • 02 April 2026

• The Planets (Philharmonia Orchestra)

  Royal Festival Hall, London

  Feb 2026

  • Alsop has rightly become a world-renowned conductor of English music and her perceptional performance of The Planets proved this. This was by far the best Planets that I have ever heard in concert – by a long shot!

    • Seen And Heard International
    • 11 February 2026

• Deutches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin

  Berlin Philharmonie

  Nov 2025

  • Three works that, under Marin Alsop's direction, achieved a cohesive whole in the Philharmonie. After the intermission came Brahms's Fourth Symphony. Here, too, Alsop remained true to her approach: no indulgence, no intoxication, but rather a keen awareness of form and rhythmic elasticity. ... An evening that demonstrated how much exciting music can emerge when analytical rigor and emotional intelligence mutually enrich each other.

    • Berliner Morgenpost
    • 02 November 2025

• Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra / Shostakovich ‘Leningrad’

  Cincinnati Music Hall

  Nov 2024

  • Marin Alsop is a pioneer among women conductors. After witnessing her inspiring leadership in Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 7, “Leningrad,” with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra on Nov. 16, I’m convinced she is one of the great conductors of our time.

    • Cincinnati Business Courier
    • 17 November 2024