Brian Tracey Named Executive Director

BALTIMORE, MD – Symphony Number One has named Brian Tracey as its new Executive Director. A recent graduate with a Master of Music degree in Clarinet Performance from the Peabody Conservatory, Brian is an avid performer and promoter of new music. Currently, Brian works as the Academic Services Administrator for the Peabody Preparatory, Peabody Institute. His first experience with being part of creating new music was as a founding member of the Maryland Wind Festival (MWF) in Frederick, MD. Now in its third year, MWF commissions young composers to write a significant work that will be the centerpiece of the festival week of performances and educational activities. An internship with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra's development department brought him into close contact with large-scale musical organizations. At the BSO, Tracey interned under Jessica Abel; Abel also serves on Symphony Number One's Board of Directors.

Music Director Jordan Randall Smith welcomed Tracey, saying, “Brian is a tremendously versatile, thoughtful, and gifted musician... he is a deeply motivated entrepreneur and leader with an impressive array of accomplishments this early into his career. I join the orchestra in sharing my excitement and anticipation." Tracey succeeds outgoing Executive Director Melissa Lander, who believes that Tracey, "will be a wonderful fit to lead the Symphony Number One family." Lander will continue to perform with the orchestra.

Having started off his musical activities as a pianist at the age of 8, Brian Tracey has developed an equal passion for working on the administrative side of music-making, and continues to pursue opportunities to be a force for change among young classical musicians. Originally from Douglassville, Pennsylvania, he is now in his fourth year in residence in Baltimore. Brian has already begun work in planning for Symphony Number One's 2017-2018 Season, which opens August 23 with a free concert in Mount Vernon. More dates below.

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For more updates, visit SNO's blog and website, symphonynumber.one.

About Symphony Number One

Founded in 2014, Symphony Number One is the newest chamber orchestra in Baltimore’s grassroots performing arts space. Led by Music Director Jordan Randall Smith, Symphony Number One offers a unique model for presenting new music by bringing together great composers of the past, virtuoso performers of the present, and the leading compositional voices of the future. The orchestra is not exclusively devoted to the performance of new music. Instead, each program presents a new, large-scale composition alongside classical masterworks, tailored to work together and highlight the featured composer. These concerts will also serve a larger mission: provide other grassroots ensembles with exciting programs to re-invigorate the American classical landscape while giving composers a chance to have their works performed again.

Symphony Number One’s creative team joins Baltimore’s thriving startup culture; the organization was founded by Music Director Jordan Randall Smith. A Dallas native, Smith previously co-founded and conducted Ars Nova Dallas and led the Dallas Festival of Modern Music as Artistic Director. He received a Bruno Walter fellowship at the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music, studying with Marin Alsop and Gustav Meier both at Cabrillo and at the Peabody Conservatory.

Transplanted to Baltimore, Smith recruited a creative team of colleagues from the Peabody Conservatory: Nicholas Bentz, Sean Meyers, Melissa Lander, and Christopher Ciampoli. The creative team has expanded to incorporate the core orchestra of musicians from across the Baltimore-Washington region. The group continues to pool expertise gleaned from their work with other contemporary music projects and major ensembles as they create a new concert style focused on fresh music from the next generation.

For more information, please visit symphonynumber.one.

Brian Tracey Named Executive Director

UPCOMING CONCERTS

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Summer in the Square

About Symphony Number One