Photo by Martin Seck
Yesterday, Marin Alsop headed a program at the New School, called "The Future of Orchestral Garments," with students from the New School for Design and young musicians from Mannes College.
Having presented initial designs in the fall to the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, the students are now expanding and developing their design proposals to address many of the particular concerns of orchestra members. There were 15 designs presented, including one for Alsop. The Mannes students played a short solo passage while wearing the demonstrated garments.
The event was followed by a memorial concert in memory of Lamar Alsop, conducted by Alsop and featuring violinist Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg.
As the live stream from the event is no longer available, further research is needed about the exact nature of those orchestral wearables, and I promise to deliver it soon.