Baltimore Symphony Orchestra Announces 2026 Music for Maryland Summer Concerts

Pay-what-you-wish performances bring the BSO to Harford and Queen Anne’s counties, with chamber music performances in Talbot and Worcester counties.

BALTIMORE, MD — The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra (BSO) today announced details for its 2026 Music for Maryland summer tour, continuing the Orchestra’s statewide commitment to bringing live symphonic and chamber music to communities across Maryland.

The 2026 summer tour will include full-orchestra performances on Thursday, August 6, at the Todd Performing Arts Center at Chesapeake College in Queen Anne’s County and Friday, August 7, at the new Chesapeake Theater at Harford Community College, a performance co-presented with the college. Admission to all Music for Maryland concerts will be pay-what-you-wish, with a recommended donation of $10 per registration. Advance reservations are strongly encouraged.

Both orchestra concerts will feature a 40-member BSO ensemble led by Nicholas Hersh, former BSO assistant/associate conductor and current principal conductor of the Baltimore Symphony Academy. The program includes Mozart’s Symphony No. 29 in A Major, Caroline Shaw’s Entr’acte, and Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante in E-flat Major, featuring BSO musicians Agnes Tse on violin and Colin Sorgi on viola.

Additional Chamber Music for Maryland performances are set for Tuesday, July 28, at the Mar-Va Theater Performing Arts Center in Pocomoke City and Tuesday, August 4, at the Oxford Community Center in downtown Oxford. Chamber Music for Maryland performances feature small ensembles of BSO musicians in programs well suited to each host venue.

The BSO’s Music for Maryland tour last visited Harford and Queen Anne’s counties in summer 2023, and Talbot and Worcester counties in summer 2024. This year’s performance at the Mar-Va Theater in Pocomoke City builds on a recent connection between the BSO and students from Pocomoke Middle/High School, who traveled more than 90 minutes each way on a school day to attend the Orchestra’s final open rehearsal of the season at the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall.

“Music for Maryland is one of the clearest expressions of the BSO’s statewide mission,” said Mark C. Hanson, president and CEO of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. “These concerts allow us to meet audiences where they are, return to communities that have welcomed the Orchestra before, and create new points of connection through live music.”

Launched in 2022, Music for Maryland was created to extend the reach of the BSO beyond its homes at the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall in Baltimore and The Music Center at Strathmore in North Bethesda. The summer 2026 tour is made possible in part by a new

$750,000 operating grant from the state of Maryland to support the BSO’s year-round statewide service. Special thanks go to Governor Wes Moore and the Moore-Miller administration, Senate President William “Bill” Ferguson, House Speaker Joseline A. Peña-Melnyk, Senator Guy Guzzone, Delegate Benjamin Barnes, and members of the Maryland General Assembly for their continued support.

Special support for the 2026 Music for Maryland summer tour is provided by the PNC Foundation.

In honor of the leadership gifts of Robert E. Meyerhoff and Rheda Becker, all 2026 Music for Maryland concerts will once again be recognized as Robert E. Meyerhoff & Rheda Becker Community Performances.

For more details on the Music for Maryland Tour and to reserve tickets, please visit www.BSOmusic.org/community.

2026 Music for Maryland Schedule

Music for Maryland: Worcester County

Tuesday, July 28, 2026
7 pm

Mar-Va Theater Performing Arts Center 103 Market Street
Pocomoke City, MD 21851

Music for Maryland: Talbot County

Tuesday, August 4, 2026
7 pm

Oxford Community Center 200 Oxford Road
Oxford, MD 21654

Music for Maryland: Queen Anne’s County

Thursday, August 6, 2026
7 pm

Todd Performing Arts Center at Chesapeake College 1000 College Circle
Wye Mills, MD 21679

Music for Maryland: Harford County

Co-Presented with Harford Community College

Friday, August 7, 2026
7 pm

Chesapeake Theater at Harford Community College 401 Thomas Run Road,
Bel Air, MD 21015

For more information and reservation details, visit BSOmusic.org/community

About the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra

For over a century, the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra (BSO) has been recognized as one of America’s leading orchestras and one of Maryland’s most significant cultural institutions. The orchestra is internationally renowned and locally admired for its innovation, performances, recordings, and educational outreach initiatives, including OrchKids.

The BSO performs annually for more than 300,000 people throughout the State of Maryland. Since 1982, the BSO has performed at the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall in Baltimore, and since 2005, with the opening of The Music Center at Strathmore in North Bethesda, MD, the BSO became the nation’s first orchestra performing its full season of classical and pops concerts in two metropolitan areas.

In July 2022, the BSO made history with the announcement that Jonathon Heyward would succeed Music Director Laureate and OrchKids Founder Marin Alsop as the Orchestra’s next Music Director. Maestro Heyward began his inaugural season in September 2023.

The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra is a proud member of the League of American Orchestras. More information about the BSO can be found at BSOmusic.org.