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A Salute to OrchKids
First Lady Michelle Obama recognizes the
BSO’ s orchkids program with a special award
OrchKid student Asia Palmer gets a
congratulatory hug from the First Lady.
NATIONAL ARTS and HUMANITIES
YOUTH PROGRAM AWARDS
An initiative of the President’s Committee
on the Arts and the Humanities
4 O v ertur e |
www. bsomusic .org
On November 22, 2013, First Lady Michelle Obama presented OrchKids Artistic
Director Dan Trahey and student Asia Palmer with a 2013 National Arts and
Humanities Youth Program Award. The BSO’s flagship community engagement
program, OrchKids™, was recognized for its effectiveness in developing learning
and life skills in young people by engaging them in the arts.
Chosen from a pool of more than 350 nominations and 50 finalists, OrchKids
is one of only 12 after-school and out-of-school programs across the country to
receive the award, which is the highest honor such programs can receive in the United
States. The awards are administered by the President’s Committee on the Arts and the
Humanities (PCAH), in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA),
the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and the
Extraordinary sustaining
Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS).
support for OrchKids is
First Lady Michelle Obama presented the award to
generously provided
Trahey and Palmer in a ceremony in the East Room of the by Robert E. Meyerhoff
White House.
& Rheda Becker.