She was playing piano at age 2, violin at age 5 and by age 7 she was in preschool at Juilliard, but it wasn't until she was 9 that Marin Alsop decided she wanted to be a conductor.
The only child of two professional musicians, Alsop - who today will be named music director of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra - was both prodigy and progeny, and when her father took her to a New York City concert conducted by Leonard Bernstein, her career plans became clear.
The dream didn't fit in that well with reality: Women were virtually unheard of as conductors. But Alsop, rather than point to the inequity - even when she was recording jingles for Kentucky Fried Chicken - did what she had to do, starting her own orchestra so she could conduct.
"She's, at her core, a musician and that's the basis she wants to be judged on, not her gender and all of the other aspects that make it hard for women to overcome whatever obstacles might be perceived," said Ellen Primack, executive director of the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music, which Alsop has served as music director of for 14 years.
"She tries to clear that out of the discussion," Primack added. "She can stand on her own, at the top, without that as part of the discussion."
In taking over the helm of the BSO, Alsop, 48, who beginning in 1993 led the fledgling Colorado Symphony Orchestra for 12 years, will become the first woman to head a major American symphony orchestra.
Despite her achievements, her arrival will not be without tension - many BSO musicians publicly opposed the selection, which they believe was rushed, poorly thought out and made without significant input from them.
Orchestra musicians issued a statement Sunday saying that nearly 90 percent of them wanted the search extended until Thanksgiving to consider additional candidates to replace Yuri Temirkanov, a world-renowned Russian conductor who's stepping down at the end of the 2005-2006 season.
Those who know Alsop, though, say her winning personality, her ability to connect - with orchestra members and audiences alike - will prevail. Alsop declined to comment on the controversy yesterday.
"Her personality will make the thing work," said Doug Adams, president and CEO of the Colorado Symphony Orchestra. "She is a person with a rare combination of skills. She has wonderful podium skills. She can turn around from the podium and speak to a room in a way very few conductors in the world can.
