A BSO Academy 2025 Class Gift
Announcing The Sherman Foundation BSO Family Collection
More than 23,000 students in grades Pre-K-8 experienced one of 16 Midweek Education Concert performances. In partnership with Carnegie Hall, one Midweek program was transformed into a fully participatory Link Up experience,“ The Orchestra Sings,” with students performing and / or singing alongside the BSO from their seats.
We continued to support the musicianship of our region’ s most talented students, bringing focused string engagement to students and music educators in 31 Howard County and / or Montgomery County public middle / high schools, and by welcoming Baltimore County back for a celebratory Side-by- Side experience. In addition to existing traditions like the Open Rehearsal Series, we launched a seasonlong Composer Mentoring Project with Composer in Residence James Lee III, through which six student composers received ongoing support and premiered original chamber works by BSO musicians at the Meyerhoff.
The BSO’ s Family Concerts featured pre-concert activities in partnership with Port Discovery Children’ s Museum, the Waldorf School, Dance and Bmore, and Menchey Music Service. Music Box programming for children six months to three years old and their families expanded at the BlackRock Center for the Arts in upper Montgomery County. And in June, we welcomed the largest-ever class of BSO Academy participants— 109 adult amateur musicians from around the country( and the world), including six Veterans receiving partial or full tuition scholarship— for an immersive week of learning, rehearsing, and performing with the BSO.
Our signature initiatives( BSO OrchKids and the Baltimore Symphony Youth Orchestras) also experienced banner years( see pages 10-11).
A BSO Academy 2025 Class Gift
Since launching in 2009, the BSO has seen individual Academy members contribute meaningful gifts: supporting the Annual Fund or making extraordinary investments such as endowing the BSO’ s Percussion Fund. The 2025 Academy Class made history by making the first ever official class gift. By the conclusion of the Academy week, nearly 50 % of all participants had pledged $ 35,000 towards The Piano Fund, the BSO’ s effort to acquire a new concert grand Steinway for the Meyerhoff. Equally exciting, individual sections came together to buy specific keys: Middle C, 220A, 440A, 880A, and Low C( the latter by the Double Basses).
Announcing The Sherman Foundation BSO Family Collection
In May, the BSO announced one of the largest gifts in its modern history, a $ 5 million investment from former early childhood educator Betsy Sherman and The Sherman Family Foundation. In addition to supporting ongoing expansion at OrchKids, this gift centered familyfriendly programming at the BSO through enhanced production, dedicated promotion, and an open invitation for Baltimore City families to access at no cost the new“ Families Listen Together” program. In addition to naming the Family Collection within the BSO’ s evergreen collections, this gift also endowed the Director of Education within the Baltimore Symphony Endowment Trust. Learn more about the Family Collection at: www. BSOmusic. org / families
It is exciting to help the BSO scale more programs and pathways for youth and families to discover joyful experiences of live, symphonic music and forge lifelong connections to the arts.
Betsy Sherman, Philanthropist
2024-25 YEAR IN REVIEW 9