Sudbrook Magnet Student to Sing Solo with Baltimore Symphony Orchestra

From Baltimore County Public Schools:

When Gabriel (Gabe) Orsini steps onstage to sing with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, he will have already fulfilled one of his life’s goals – at age 13.

Being recommended to the BSO and auditioning for the orchestra, Orsini, a Grade 7 student at Sudbrook Magnet Middle School and a Reisterstown resident, was selected as the young soloist to perform in the orchestra’s production of The Snowman. Five performances of The Snowman, conducted by Nicholas Hersh, BSO associate conductor, will be presented from November 30 through December 3. The concerts, targeted to children and families, will feature the animated film The Snowman (based on the book by Raymond Briggs) and will explore the role of climate and the seasons. Orsini will sing the song Walking in the Air.

"I'm most excited about being up on the BSO stage with the orchestra and conductor,” Orsini says. “I feel very honored that I get to sing with such a prestigious group of musicians. I can't wait to feel the big sound of the orchestra behind me when I sing. To have this opportunity at 13 years old is very special, and I'll remember it for the rest of my life."

At Sudbrook, Orsini studies vocal performance, theater, and the string bass, but his musical education began much earlier. Since he was six years old, he has been singing with the Peabody Children’s Chorus, under the direction of Doreen Falby. With Peabody, Orsini performed as a soloist in John Rutter’s Nativity Carol, and he sang Mahler’s 3rdSymphony with the BSO as part of a select group of Children’s Chorus and Baltimore Choral Arts Society singers. Recently, he was selected to be one of the gingerbread men in Peabody Opera Theatre’s production of Hansel and Gretel. Orsini’s vocal coach is Madeleine Gray, an international opera singer and the vocal department chair at the Peabody Conservatory.

Photo courtesy of Baltimore County Public Schools