BSO OrchKids Program Presents Workshop, "Community Engagement Through Music Education," April 13

Baltimore, Md. (March 15, 2011) - Over the past five years, the El Sistema movement in the United States has grown significantly, with a promise and excitement of changing the lives of young people most in need. Under the leadership of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra (BSO) and BSO Music Director Marin Alsop, OrchKids, the BSO's youth music education program in West Baltimore schools, has been a model for other orchestras, school systems and organizations. Now in its third year, the program enrolls more than 250 students, in two community locations,
and has been recognized by national media such as PBS, NPR, Symphony Magazine, and CBS's Sixty Minutes. In an effort to encourage the creation of other El Sistema-based programs throughout the country and provide proven information and strategic guidelines for success, the BSO will present "Community Engagement through Music Education," (CEME) a one-day workshop on Wednesday, April 13, 2011 at the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall in Baltimore, Maryland. Fee for the one-day workshop is $150.00; reservations are required by March 31. For
additional information on registration and hotel accommodations, contact OrchKids Administrative Director Cheryl Goodman at cgoodman@bsomusic.org or 410.783.8025.

The workshop will offer a comprehensive view of El Sistema and how the movement is currently being realized in the United States, as well as information on developing an individual or custom program and vision, program management and sustainability, student achievement and cultivating community connections. The day's activities will include information sessions and an open forum with OrchKids faculty and Baltimore City Public Schools officials, a community tour, one-on-one participation with students, and remarks and Q&A sessions with Maestra Marin Alsop.

CEME will be held at the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, the home of the BSO, located in Baltimore's Mount Royal Cultural District, two miles from the Inner Harbor. Morning sessions will begin at 9 a.m. with snacks and lunch provided during the day. Roundtrip transportation will be provided to Lockerman Bundy Elementary School in West Baltimore, the initial OrchKids site where workshop participants will view a portion of the three-hour program in progress, which includes group music lesions (per instrument family-brass, woodwinds, strings), ensemble rehearsal, Bucket Band practice and mentoring skills workshop. Workshop participants who are also musicians are encouraged to bring their instruments.

"As I travel across the country speaking about El Sistema and the success of our efforts here in Baltimore, I am encouraged by the passion of so many to create a program in their own city. The children in OrchKids receive music education, tutoring, mentoring, and opportunities for personal development. We aim to help them overcome the social challenges that they face daily, including poverty, crime, domestic issues and often times, failing public schools. This workshop is designed to bring together like-minded people who are interested in building community outreach music education programs and empower them with the skills, knowledge and encouragement to do so. In Baltimore, OrchKids seeks to transform its community," says Dan Trahey, OrchKids Director of Artistic Programming.

About OrchKids
OrchKids is a year-round after-school music program designed to create social change and nurture promising futures for youth in Baltimore City neighborhoods. Under Music Director Marin Alsop's artistic leadership and direction, OrchKids is a cornerstone of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra's efforts to expand the Orchestra's relevance within the City's broad and diverse community. In collaboration with several community partners, OrchKids provides music
education, instruments, meals and mentorship at no cost to Baltimore's neediest youngsters.

The program is inspired by Venezuela's El Sistema, the music program that in 30 years has transformed the lives of hundreds of thousands of children in that country's most impoverished areas. Like El Sistema, OrchKids is intended primarily to address the most pervasive social challenges affecting underserved youth, using music to cultivate fundamental life skills such as self-expression, cooperative learning, discipline and creativity. With assistance from The Family League of Baltimore City and the University of Maryland Baltimore County, the BSO has implemented several assessment tools to track if OrchKids participants are achieving social, academic and musical outcomes.

For the 2010-2011 school year, OrchKids serves more than 250 pre-K through fifth grade students at Lockerman Bundy Elementary School and at New Song Academy in West Baltimore. Under OrchKids Director of Artistic Programming Dan Trahey, students receive classroom music instruction during the school day and in after-school sessions four days a week from 3:30-6:15 p.m. A typical after-school session includes classroom music instruction, group instrument lessons, tutoring assistance and a nutritious meal, courtesy of East Side Entrees. OrchKids also
frequently have the opportunity to take field trips to local organizations and attend Baltimore Symphony Orchestra concerts.

REGISTRATION DETAILS
o To register for this event, contact OrchKids Administrative Director Cheryl Goodman at cgoodman@bsomusic.org or 410.783.8025.
o Reservations are required by March 31.
o The cost to participate in the full day of activities is $150 per registrant.

EVENT DETAILS
Workshop: Community Engagement with Music Education (BSO OrchKids)
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
8:30 a.m. - 7:30 p.m.
Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall
Baltimore, Maryland

8:30 - 9:00 a.m. Continental Breakfast

9:00 - 9:30 a.m. Address and Q&A with Maestra Marin Alsop

9:30 - 10:30 a.m. Principles of El Sistema…and its U.S. Realization Dan Trahey, Director of Artistic Programming

10:45 - 11:45 a.m. Developing Financial and Community Resources Cheryl Goodman, Director of Administration and Fundraising Allison Livingstone-Burr, BSO Grantwriter

11:45 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. Building the Structure Nick Skinner, On Site Manager Dan Trahey, Director of Artistic Programming

12:30 - 1:30 p.m. Lunch

1:30 - 2:15 p.m. Tour of West Baltimore Neighborhood

2:30 - 3:30 p.m. Welcome to Site 1 Tour of school, Introduction of BCPSS faculty

3:30 - 6:15 p.m. OrchKids site visit

6:30 - 7:15 p.m. Final Forum, Q&A

7:30 p.m. Return to Meyerhoff