See the BSO perform
“The Star Spangled Banner”
Friday, September 19, 2014 — 8pm
Sunday, September 21, 2014 — 3pm
{I n H istory}
Francis Scott Key
{I n P l ay}
JUST ANNOUNCED:
AN EVENING WITH
JASON ALEXANDER
Friday, January 23, 2015 at 8 pm
Saturday, January 24, 2015 at 8 pm
Sunday, January 25, 2015 at 3 pm
Jason Alexander
You know him best as George
Costanza from the hit TV series
“Seinfeld,” but actor, director and
writer Jason Alexander is also a
Tony Award-winning actor who has
appeared in multiple musicals on
Broadway. Mr. Alexander joins the
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
and Principal Pops Conductor
Jack Everly for an evening of songs
and comedy you won’t want to miss!
wrote the poem now known as
“The Star Spangled Banner” the
morning of September 14, 1814, after
the British’s unsuccessful attempt on
Fort McHenry. Key gave the poem
to his brother-in-law, Joseph H.
Nicholson, who saw that the
words fit the popular melody “The
Anacreontic Song,” by composer
John Stafford Smith. Nicholson took
the poem to a printer in Baltimore,
who anonymously made the first
known printing on September 17,
1814. By the early 20th century, there
were various versions of the song
in popular use. Seeking a singular,
standard version, President Woodrow
Wilson tasked the U.S. Bureau of
Education with providing an official
version. In response, the Bureau
enlisted the help of five musicians to
agree upon an arrangement: Walter
Damrosch, Will Earhart, Arnold J.