Conducting

Erin Meade, 22, looked at the group of musicians before her, nodded her head and made a slight, downward motion with her baton. What followed was not the clean start that the Old Mill Middle School-South band director had hoped to hear, but a mixture of sounds as some of her fellow music teachers began playing their instruments and others tried to catch up. Instructor David Barg signaled for Meade to stop. He quickly analyzed Meade's performance and explained why the group hadn't been able to start on cue. Meade and more than 20 other school band and chorus directors are honing their conducting skills at an Anne Arundel Community College workshop this week held by Barg, a New York guest conductor who specializes in leading youth ensembles.

A group of friends and family from Elkridge prepared for the Preakness as they have every year for decades. They packed tubs of Rice Krispies treats, shrimp salad, macaroni salad, cashews, soft drinks and a giant bag of Utz chips into their cars and headed to Pimlico Race Course . But this year, the Boston Marathon bombing was in the back of their minds. Peggy Maher, one of the group, brought her grandson for the first time. Just in case the unthinkable happened, she went over an emergency plan with everyone should they get separated: Meet at Sinai Hospital, a little over a mile away.

WHEN A state commission avoids conducting its activities in public, alarm bells should sound in the governor's suite. When that panel goes to great lengths to violate even the spirit of the state's Open Meetings Law, Gov. Parris N. Glendening should be seriously concerned.Yet he has allowed the Maryland Commission on Indian Affairs to mock the state's sunshine law and hide in the shadows of legal technicalities.The commission doesn't want to discuss in public how or why it decided to recommend to the governor that the Piscataway Conoy Confederacy & Subtribes be recognized by the state as an Indian tribe.

Less than two weeks after signing a one-year contract with the Ravens, linebacker Rolando McClain was arrested in Decatur, Ala., on Sunday and charged with disorderly conduct and resisting arrest. McClain, who is from Decatur and played college football at Alabama, was arrested after an incident at Pines Park, according to a police report. Police officers arrived at Pines Park in response to a reported disturbance, resulting from what witnesses said was somebody spitting on McClain's car, according to Lt.

The Baltimore Opera Company's season-opening production of Rossini's rarely staged The Siege of Corinth is about to plunge audiences into anxious issues of love and duty amid a messy war between Greeks and Turks. Pamira, daughter of the besieged Greek governor, will be torn between two ever-so-conflicting matrimonial prospects - a young Greek officer and the leader of the Turkish invaders. The poor dear won't know which way to turn for guidance and inspiration, but the soprano portraying her will.

THE ANNAPOLIS Symphony will begin its 31st season Oct. 4 with Gisele Ben-Dor conducting violinist Herbert Greenberg, concert master of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, in Brahms' Violin Concerto in D Major. The program also includes Glinka's Overture to Ruslan and Lyudmilla and Mendelssohn's Symphony No. 5 in D Major ("The Reformation").The concert will repeat Oct. 5. All subscription concerts begin at 8 p.m. in Maryland Hall for the Creative Arts, 801 Chase St., in Annapolis.* Nov. 8 and 9 -- Rossini's Overture to Semiramide; Mozart's Oboe Concerto in C Major with soloist Washington Barella; Beethoven's Symphony No. 5 in C Minor.

Taste is conducting its first reader survey to find out what Baltimoreans like to cook and eat. The survey is at www.sunspot.net/tastesurvey (there is no period after the address). The deadline for responding is Feb. 1. We'll print the results in a coming issue of Taste.

Is your group or organization conducting a holiday home tour? Or sponsoring a holiday craft and gift show? We're compiling a listing of festivities to be published in late November. Please mail information about your event by Nov. 7 to Lori Sears, Home & Family section, The Baltimore Sun, 501 N. Calvert St., Baltimore, MD 21278, or fax 410-783-2519.

Tonight, maestro David Zinman will be conducting a performance of Madame Butterfly at the Aspen Music Festival in Colorado, where he spends his summers teaching and leading musical ensembles. The man who led the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra is now 71, and he is as busy as ever. His bags are always packed and ready to go. In his 13 years with the BSO, he became known for championing American music, much of it commissioned by the Baltimore ensemble. Though he says he spends 30 to 40 days a year at his home in Cape May, N.J., he also lives four months in Zurich, Switzerland, where he leads the Tonhalle Orchestra and is recording a complete series of the Gustav Mahler symphonies.

The death of Leonard Bernstein at 72 deprives the United States of the most illustrious musician in its history, and deprives music of its most illustrious American.Millions of people who love classical music have Bernstein to thank for their introduction to it. And for decades hence, young Americans who find acceptance of their scores in European productions or their conducting on European podiums will have Leonard Bernstein to thank for opening the opportunity.His versatility was at once his blessing and his curse.

A bill that would have required the state health department to report to legislators on the effectiveness of a new online registry of psychiatric hospital beds did not pass this legislative session - but the review will be conducted anyway. On April 4, Del. Peter A. Hammen, a Baltimore Democrat and chair of the Health and Government Operations Committee, wrote a letter to health secretary Joshua Sharfstein - in lieu of moving the bill out of his committee - requesting the health department conduct the review and report back to his committee before the 2014 legislative session.

The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, which has slipped back into deficit territory partly because of pension fund obligations, has planned a concert to do something about that. The program has what should be a big draw -- music by celebrated film composer John Williams. Proceeds will benefit the BSO musicians' pension fund, and since Williams is donating his services, that gives those proceeds all the more potential. Williams, who has earned five Oscars and nearly 10 times that many nominations, will lead the BSO in selections from his scores for such hits as "Star Wars" and "E.T," not to mention the sagas of "Indiana Jones" and "Harry Potter.

Supporters of home births are trying to convince legislators to create a pilot program that could  eventually lead to the licensing of midwives without nursing degrees. The three-year pilot would allow certified professional midwives to deliver babies in a home setting without worry of arrest or prosecution. Certified professional midwives are trained in midwifery and meet standards set by the North American Registry of Midwives. Under the pilot progam, midwives would share their birth outcomes with the state Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.

Four students in Harford County Public Schools were arrested in the past several days, including one accused of stealing milk from the cafeteria throughout the school year. The other three students all were charged with being disorderly in their respective schools – two at Joppatowne High School and one at Edgewood High School. Last week, a 16-year-old boy was charged with theft less than $100 after he allegedly stole a carton of milk from the cafeteria at Patterson Mill High School, then admitted he's been taking a milk daily during this school year, according to a Harford County Sheriff's Office police report.

SARASOTA, Fla. -- The Orioles will conduct their final full workout this morning at the Ed Smith Stadium complex before the Grapefruit League season starts. Tomorrow, the Orioles open the spring schedule with a home game against the Minnesota Twins at Ed Smith Stadium. Most of the starters will take batting practice on the stadium field, which is out of the ordinary. Other than that, it's one more day of full-squad PFP drills and other team defense drills for pitchers. As reported yesterday, Zach Britton will start tomorrow's opener and be followed by Jake Arrieta.

A Parkville man is scheduled to be sentenced this week on charges of transporting a minor to engage in sexually explicit conduct, and the woman he lived with has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to produce child pornography in a case that prosecutors said involved confining a minor in their home. John Andrew Blaes, 49, of Parkville, previously pleaded guilty to the conspiracy and to transporting a minor to engage in sexually explicit conduct. He is scheduled to be sentenced on Feb. 19. Meanwhile, the plea of Margaret Ellen Jones, 37, of Parkville, was announced this month by U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein, with FBI, Homeland Security officials and Baltimore County Police Chief James Johnson.

The Carroll County Clinton Team is conducting voter registration around the county during the next two Saturdays before the Oct. 5 registration deadline.Clinton workers will be available 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sept. 26 anOct. 3 at George's IGA in Eldersburg and Finksburg, Hampstead Liquors and Super Fresh stores in the North Carroll Shopping Plaza and Westminster.Anyone wishing to vote in the November general election musregister by 9 p.m. Oct. 5.% Information: 795-6066.

Whitney Swander woke before dawn three days this week to talk with people who have been sleeping on the city's streets. That's how she met Ron — a man who has moved across the country since becoming homeless and, lately, has spent his days drinking coffee in a McDonald's in southern Baltimore. "He wants a way into a more stable life," she said, pausing. "I keep thinking about Ron. " The Mayor's Office of Human Services-Homeless Services Program and the Baltimore Home for Good Campaign announced Friday morning an initiative to find housing for the 75 most vulnerable homeless people in the city.

Holding cut-outs of activist Kim Trueheart's face, protesters objected at Wednesday morning's Board of Estimates meeting to her ban from City Hall. "I was with Kim Trueheart a week ago when she was arrested trying to attend this very meeting," fellow activist Mike McGuire said. "As anyone who has been around City Hall knows, Kim is quite a fixture. With her banning from City Hall, and her subsequent arrest, she couldn't be here. We wanted to make sure she was present at least in spirit.