In Thursday’s (2/10) Baltimore Sun, Tim Smith writes, “OrchKids, the music education initiative developed by the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and given national exposure on the CBS show ‘60 Minutes,’ has expanded to a second school. Funded by a two-year grant of $50,000 from the Rouse Company Foundation, the program had a quiet introduction last month at the New Song Academy in the Sandtown-Winchester neighborhood of West Baltimore; a media launch is being made Friday at the school. OrchKids, which combines during- and after-school classes and lessons, started three years ago with 30 first-graders at Harriet Tubman Elementary. When that school closed, the project moved to Lockerman Bundy Elementary, where almost 200 students, pre-K through third grade, now participate. At New Song Academy, an independently run charter school operating within the Baltimore public school system, the initial emphasis will be on string instruments. Students there previously had access to classes in the Suzuki educational method for young string players. … All 37 pre-K and kindergarten students at New Song Academy are being introduced to the OrchKids program. More students are expected to join the program in subsequent years. There is no cost to the students.”
Posted February 11, 2011
