The Score | Music in Motion

Point Counterpoint II—a 195-foot barge designed by Louis Kahn that for years was home to the American Wind Symphony Orchestra—has retired to Florida. Except that the boat is not retired, exactly. Finding a permanent berth for the boat has been a longtime project of Robert Boudreau, the 92-year-old trumpet player and conductor who founded the American Wind Symphony and lives in Pennsylvania. Point Counterpoint II first gained fame during a 76-city performance tour for the U.S. bicentennial in 1976, but the American Wind Symphony gave its final concerts in 2017, and the ship needs repairs estimated at $1 million. After cellist Yo-Yo Ma drew attention to the boat’s plight, several cities expressed interest giving it a home. In the end, the boat made it to Pahokee, Florida, on Lake Okeechobee, in Palm Beach County. Boudreau hopes to use the boat’s refurbished stage to establish a music program for young instrumentalists in partnership with local school districts, and has begun working with the chamber of commerce and school board members. The program would provide college scholarships as well as music lessons.