News From
BSO OrchKids
ORCHKIDS 15-YEAR CELEBRATION CONCERT
From top to bottom : Maximilian Franz , Yaseen Jones , Maximilian Franz ,
The OrchKids 15-Year Celebration Concert was an unforgettable night thanks to the hard work of our students , teachers , and staff , and support from the entire OrchKids community ! We celebrated 15 years with our first dedicated concert at the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall on May 17 . Over 250 students from all seven OrchKids sites performed for a packed hall that was filled with family members , school principals and teachers , OrchKids partners , donors , and more . Audience members enjoyed a pre-concert video that reflected all of the wonderful memories from the first 15 years of OrchKids programming . Our youngest students opened the concert with a song that they composed themselves during our Collective Composition week called “ Be Brave and Kind .” We were then honored to have Baltimore City Mayor Brandon Scott welcome the audience before electrifying performances by all of the OrchKids ensembles : Latin Ensemble , Concert Winds , Symphonic Winds , Brass Band , Concert Strings , and Symphonic Strings . Three Marin Alsop Citizenship Awards were given to students who exemplify qualities of BSO Music Director Laureate and OrchKids Founder , Marin Alsop , including leadership , kindness , commitment , and service . The awardees were Madison Vincent , Ilide Iheme , and Ashley Gonzalez .
Closing out this spectacular night was Brian Prechtl ’ s arrangement of “ One Day ” which brought together all 250 students , Pre-K through 12th grade , on stage and in the boxes . Conducted by Jonathon Heyward , BSO the BSO ’ s new Music Director , this final , unifying piece left performers and audience members alike with goosebumps and tears in their eyes . The OrchKids community showed up and showed out to support our students who sang and played their hearts out for this incredibly memorable and inspirational night .
SEE THE PERFORMANCE
SEP-OCT 2023 / OVERTURE 23