HALF-PRICE 65+ “MATINEE”
Bernadette Wegenstein | Documentary | USA, 2021 | English | 90m | G
Virtual Screening: Monday, March 28 – Sunday, April 10
Film: Despite rejections from the classical music establishment, Marin Alsop—inspired by her lifelong hero Leonard Bernstein—smashed the glass ceiling and became the world’s first female conductor. Special Discount: Tickets for patrons age 65+ are only $7.50 for this film.
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Full Film Details:
Despite rejections from the classical music establishment throughout her career, Marin Alsop—the world’s first female conductor—never relinquished her childhood dream. Born into a musical, Jewish family in New York, at just nine years old, she set her sights on becoming a conductor after accompanying her father to one of Leonard Bernstein’s Young People’s Concerts. She studied violin, graduated from Juilliard, and established an all-female string orchestra and swing band in New York City. But her passion for conducting never waned despite being repeatedly denied readmission back to Juilliard. Fortunately, the fact that women were actively discouraged from entering this profession did not stop this pathbreaking woman. With new doors opening, Alsop earned acceptance to the prestigious Tanglewood Music Center, where she excelled under the tutelage of her lifelong hero, Leonard Bernstein. Eventually, she smashed the glass ceiling, becoming the first woman to serve as music director of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, the São Paulo Symphony Orchestra, and the Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra. This film takes audiences backstage for unprecedented access to Alsop’s energetic performances and inspired interactions with students at OrchKids, the free, Baltimore-based, after-school music program she founded. Set to a stirring soundtrack and anchored by the music and musings of Alsop’s late, great mentor, THE CONDUCTOR is a refreshing, phoenix-rising underdog story and joyful tribute to perseverance and resiliency.
Director Bio:
Bernadette Wegenstein is an Austrian-born linguist, author, and critically acclaimed documentary filmmaker living in Baltimore. Her work brings together her feminist thought and her interest in human-centric storytelling. She holds a Ph.D. in linguistics and is currently a professor of Media Studies at Johns Hopkins University. She has directed four documentaries, including THE CONDUCTOR, SEE YOU AGAIN (2011), and THE GOOD BREAST (2016). View on IMDB.
Film Sponsors
Betty Lou Treiger
Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle
Lead Sponsors
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