Baltimore Symphony Orchestra Announces Two Free September Concerts for Student and Family Audiences

Baltimore Symphony Orchestra Announces Two Free September Concerts for Student and Family Audiences

Featuring Narration by BSO Artistic Partner Wordsmith

BALTIMORE (September 2, 2021) – The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra (BSO) has added two free concerts for younger audiences. Performances include a Free College Kickoff, exclusively for college students on September 17 at the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, and Peter and the Wolf with the BSO and Wordsmith, an outdoor concert for families co-presented by the BSO and the Inner Arbor Trust at the Chrysalis in Howard County on September 18.

The BSO will welcome area college students to the Free College Kickoff at the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall at 8 pm on Friday, September 17. Led by BSO Assistant Conductor Jonathan Rush, the one-hour program presented without intermission includes the opening movement from Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony and Price’s Dances in the Canebrakes, a piece evoking imagery of pre- and post-Emancipation America. The program ends with Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf featuring narration from a Baltimore perspective by BSO Artistic Partner Wordsmith. All students in attendance will have the opportunity to purchase a discounted Student Select pass for $30 with proof of valid student ID (public sale is $35). Student Select members have nearly unlimited access to BSO concerts all season long, including most classical and pops concerts. Student Select members can also bring a friend for $10 and gain insider access and updates to innovative happenings at the BSO.

On Saturday, September 18, the BSO, in partnership with the Inner Arbor Trust, will present a free, outdoor performance at the Chrysalis in Howard County at 1 pm. Created with budding music enthusiasts and their families in mind, the 45-minute program, under the baton of BSO Assistant Conductor Jonathan Rush, features recognizable favorites of John Williams’ “Adventures on Earth” from E.T. and Dukas’ The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, alongside Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf with narration by Wordsmith.

In keeping with recently updated COVID-19 related policies, the BSO proactively canceled or transitioned to streaming all in-person, indoor, family and youth programming for September and October. This new partnership with the Inner Arbor Trust allows the BSO to share live, in-person orchestral music with families and children under 12 this fall by calling on the venue’s outdoor setting.

“The BSO has a long history of partnering in and with Howard County including our work with young Howard County musicians, and we see the Orchestra’s debut performance at the Chrysalis as the start of an expanded partnership,” said Allison Burr-Livingstone, BSO Vice President and Chief Advancement Officer. “We’re grateful for the opportunity to responsibly bring together an important segment of our community and are equally excited to advance our strategic goals of getting out into the communities that surround our concert halls.” 

“We are thrilled to welcome Baltimore Symphony Orchestra to the Chrysalis for this free, family concert,” said Nina Basu, President and CEO of the Inner Arbor Trust. “The Inner Arbor Trust brings free performances to the Chrysalis throughout the year, and we are grateful to have this opportunity to host this world-class symphony orchestra. We look forward to welcoming the community for a COVID-19 safe, outdoor, distanced performance.”

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TICKETS

Both performances are free, but tickets are required. General admission tickets for the Free College Kickoff on September 17 are available at BSOmusic.org. Valid full-time student ID must be presented. Tickets for Peter and the Wolf with the BSO and Wordsmith on September 18 at the Chrysalis are available at InnerArborTrust.org/Events. Please review COVID-19 policies for both venues before reserving your tickets.

 

PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE

Free College Kickoff
Friday, September 17 at 8 pm
Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall
1212 Cathedral Street
Baltimore, MD 21201
Free and exclusive admission for college students, but tickets required

Jonathan Rush, conductor
Wordsmith, narrator

BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 5, I. Allegro con brio
PRICE (orch. William Grant Still) Dances in the Canebrakes
DUKAS The Sorcerer’s Apprentice
PROKOFIEV Peter and the Wolf

Peter and the Wolf with the BSO and Wordsmith
Saturday, September 18 at 1 pm
The Chrysalis
Merriweather Park at Symphony Woods
10431 Little Patuxent Parkway
Columbia, MD 21044
Free, but tickets required

Jonathan Rush, conductor
Wordsmith, narrator

JOHN WILLIAMS “Adventures on Earth” from E.T.
DUKAS The Sorcerer’s Apprentice
PROKOFIEV Peter and the Wolf

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About the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra 
For over a century, the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra (BSO) has been recognized as one of America’s leading orchestras and one of Maryland’s most significant cultural institutions. The orchestra is internationally renowned and locally admired for its innovation, performances, recordings, and educational outreach initiatives including OrchKids.

The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra performs annually for more than 275,000 people throughout the State of Maryland. Since 1982, the BSO has performed at the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall in Baltimore, and since 2005, with the opening of The Music Center at Strathmore in North Bethesda, MD, the BSO became the nation’s first orchestra performing its full season of classical and pops concerts in two metropolitan areas. More recently, 2020 marked the beginning of a new era of artistry, innovation, stability, and digital accessibility, including the launch of the virtual platform BSO OffStage and a groundbreaking docu-concert series BSO Sessions. More information about the BSO can be found at BSOmusic.org.

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