The Score | OrchKids on the Move

This winter and spring, students from Baltimore Symphony Orchestra’s OrchKids program delved into the lives and music of Scott Joplin and Jelly Roll Morton during visits to the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. In January, OrchKids students and teachers visited the Library’s Music Division Reading Room, where they explored musical scores, letters, and other resources. Students used the materials as inspiration to create an original composition. On April 13, students returned to the Library for performances with BSO Music Director Marin Alsop. The OrchKids Jazz Band paid tribute to Jelly Roll Morton, and the OrchKids String Ensemble performed an original composition inspired by Scott Joplin’s opera Treemonisha. The OrchKids Bucket Band and OrchKids Brass Band performed pop-up concerts in the Great Hall of the Thomas Jefferson Building. This was OrchKids’ second collaboration with the Library of Congress; last year’s project focused on Leonard Bernstein. OrchKids, founded by Alsop in 2008, is a year-round music program for Baltimore City students; it provides free music education, instruments, academic instruction, and meals, as well as performance and mentorship opportunities.