Your Impact

When you support the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, you ensure that our mission is carried out in the following key areas:

OrchKids – More than a Music Lesson

At the BSO, we deeply believe that music and mentorship open doors – but a mere 12% of city schools offer instrumental education. BSO OrchKids is one of the primary ways we help to bridge that gap, providing equitable access to community-based, high-quality music instruction and so much more, including: instruments, academic assistance, meals, mental health resources, and connection to social services – all in addition to performance and mentorship opportunities, and at no cost to students and their families. It’s our way of leveling the playing field and expanding the possibilities for Baltimore youth. So much more than a music lesson, it’s the start of something big. OrchKid students develop creative, collaborative, leadership, and problem-solving skills.

With 2,000+ students (pre-K – 12thĀ grade) currently enrolled, and expansion plans to reach more students and schools in the works, the BSO OrchKids team is bullish on the future. Your support fuels this remarkable program while ensuring continuity of service, in-school, after-school, and summer programming for our incredible students, families, teaching artists, and partners.

BSO ORCHkids Logo

Community Voices: The OrchKids Impact

Pushing the Envelope of Musical Education

Part of the BSO’s DNA is our commitment to innovative educational programming. From 6-month-old Music Box attendees to Play Date at 90+, the BSO offers a full range of opportunities for increasing understanding and appreciation of symphonic music. It’s all about making concerts a catalyst for gathering and conversation.Ā 

With your support, the BSO can continue to provide access to community, access to family, access to the feeling you cannot get anywhere else, to the children in our community.Ā 

Discover our latest educational highlights in this video.

“Link Up: The Orchestra Sings,” a Midweek Education Concert

This year, as a special feature of the Midweek Concert Series for students, the BSO was thrilled to present The Orchestra Sings, part of Carnegie Hall’s Link Up program. For the first time in Baltimore, students had the extraordinary opportunity to perform alongside BSO musicians in this interactive concert. Designed to accommodate a range of musical skill levels, Link Up allows teachers to tailor the experience to their classrooms. Students sang along with the orchestra to songs like ā€œOyeā€ by Jim Papoulis and ā€œCome to Playā€ by Thomas Cabaniss, wrote original freedom songs inspired by ā€œWe Shall Not Be Moved,ā€ and played recorder to iconic works such as Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy” and DvořÔk’s New World Symphony.

We Are Maryland’s Orchestra

The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra is truly Maryland’s Orchestra. We have two year-round homes, which allow us to share the power of music with twice as many people. Our free Symphony in the City series brings the orchestra into Baltimore’s neighborhoods, our groundbreaking Music for Maryland program reaches every one of our state’s counties, and an exciting line up of symphonic programming – classical, popular, celebratory, family, and special events – brings together new and loyal audiences alike, across all generations and all backgrounds, for shared experiences in the concert hall and in venues across Maryland.

Of our city and for our state, the BSO exists to share the awesome power of music in ways that only a full-time symphony orchestra can. With Music Director Jonathon Heyward and our world-class orchestra, 85 musicians-strong, we are not only becoming more for more people in our community, we are becoming the face of the accessible, diverse, and ever-evolving orchestra of the 21st century.

Watch this video to learn more about our monumental community-focused vision for the BSO.


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“Our students rarely leave the area, much less visit Baltimore or Rockville. I’m not sure if many of the students have ever heard a professional musician — much less someone the caliber of a Symphony musician.

—A teacher after a BSO Virtual Classroom Visit

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