Our directors are accomplished artists in the performance field.
Flutist Marcia McHugh became a member of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra after performing with the orchestra during the 2005-2006 season as Second Flute. She was the BSO’s acting piccolo player for the 2017-2018 season. With five concertos performed since joining the BSO, Ms. McHugh has also been featured in the BSO’s annual New Music Festival chamber music concerts. She has performed with the National Symphony, Detroit Symphony, and most recently with the Cincinnati Symphony on their 3-week European tour in 2017 and March 2019 recording project. Before joining the BSO, Ms. McHugh was second flute and a soloist with the Omaha Symphony. Her solo performance of Leonard Bernstein’s Halil was broadcast live on Nebraska radio.
Her flute, viola, and harp trio, Trio Sirènes, has performed throughout the East Coast including the Chamber Music by Candlelight Series, which she is the Co-Artistic Director. During the summer, Ms. McHugh performs chamber music and orchestra concerts at the Festival Mozaic in San Luis Obispo, California and the Grand Teton Music Festival in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. She graduated from Peabody Conservatory where she studied with Robert Willoughby and was awarded the Britton Johnson Memorial Flute Prize.
Her flute, viola, and harp trio, Trio Sirènes, has performed throughout the East Coast including the Chamber Music by Candlelight Series, which she is the Co-Artistic Director. During the summer, Ms. McHugh performs chamber music and orchestra concerts at the Festival Mozaic in San Luis Obispo, California and the Grand Teton Music Festival in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. She graduated from Peabody Conservatory where she studied with Robert Willoughby and was awarded the Britton Johnson Memorial Flute Prize.
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra's Principal Cellist Dariusz Skoraczewski has been described by Tim Smith of the Baltimore Sun as having "lush tone, expressive style and solid technique that have earned him admiration in a career that encompasses solo, chamber and orchestral music-making…" He has delighted audiences across the United States, Europe and Asia showcasing his artistry and virtuosic command of the cello. As a soloist he performed with numerous orchestras, including the National Philharmonic and the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra.
His diverse repertoire includes compositions from early Baroque to the present. His debut CD "Cello Populus" is an eclectic collection of contemporary solo pieces and includes works of Hindemith, Ligeti, Crumb, Penderecki, Saariaho and Lutosławski. Praised by Mike D. Brownell of AllMusic.com as "a truly exceptional album that leaves listeners eagerly waiting for another installment", the recording earned considerable attention to award Dariusz the prestigious Baker Artist Award in Baltimore in 2013.
Dariusz's second recording with pianist Michael Sheppard, "Cello Phantasia", features music by Schumann, Franck and Rachmaninov. Joined by violinist Igor Yuzefovich to create Monument Piano Trio, the talented Peabody alumni group has a recording of pieces by Brahms, Shostakovich and Schoenfield. This trio recording as well as Dariusz's subsequent recordings, were recorded, edited and produced by Dariusz.
As a recitalist and chamber musician, Dariusz has appeared in countless chamber music concerts including Chamber Music by Candlelight, An Die Musik, Keystone Korner, Music in the Valley, and The Spire Series in Baltimore as well as the Weill Hall, Barge Music Festival and Merkin Hall in New York City. He spends his summers performing as principal cellist at the Grand Teton Music Festival in Wyoming and Festival Mozaic in California.
Dariusz began his musical education at the age of six in Warsaw, Poland studying with Zbigniew Liebig and Andrzej Zieliński. As a scholarship recipient at the Peabody Conservatory of Music in Baltimore he studied with world-renowned cellist Stephen Kates.
Since 2011 he has held the Joseph and Rebecca Meyerhoff chair as the Principal Cellist of the Baltimore Symphony. Dariusz plays a 1702 Carlo Giuseppe Testore cello, generously on loan from Marin Alsop. This wonderful instrument allowed Dariusz to successfully complete his biggest recording project yet: Bach's Cello Suites, which was released in the fall of 2017. Dave Seamann of the Fanfare Magazine said that Skoraczewski's Suites "present the best recorded sound of a cello I ever have heard."