BSO & BSA Collaborate to Present Fully Staged Performance of THE NUTCRACKER, 12/21 & 22

In an unprecedented partnership of four Baltimore cultural organizations, the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra (BSO), Baltimore School for the Arts (BSA), Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) and The Modell Performing Arts Center at the Lyric will come together for the first time this December to present Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's full-length holiday classic The Nutcracker.

This premier collaboration will feature four performances at The Modell Performing Arts Center at the Lyric, including matinees today, December 21 at 2 p.m. and Saturday, December 22 at 2 p.m., and evening shows today, December 21 at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday, December 22 at 7:30 p.m. The production showcases the BSO conducted by Cristian Macelaru, 120 students from BSA's high school and TWIGS after-school and weekend program, and backdrops designed by MICA students all in a unique holiday spectacle. Boston Ballet Executive Director, Barry Hughson, who has choreographed BSA's much-loved production for several years, will stage The Nutcracker for this presentation. For more than 25 years, students from BSA have delighted Baltimore audiences with their annual production.

Composed in 1891 by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, The Nutcracker is a two?act ballet that has enchanted audiences of all ages for generations. The story follows a young girl named Clara through her vivid dreams on Christmas Eve. After falling asleep under the Christmas tree with her broken nutcracker doll, a prince greets Clara in her dreams and embarks with her on an adventure filled with life?size mice, dolls, fairies and sweets. Their journey to the Kingdom of Sweets includes the famous divertissements: Chocolat, Café, Thé, Trepak, Mirlitons, Waltz of the Flowers and Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy.

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