BSO Extends the Reach of its Music Box Series For Young Children and Their Families in Two Additional Maryland Communities

Silver Spring Civic Building and The Gordon Center for Performing Arts in Owings Mills are New Partner Venues

Baltimore, MD (October 29, 2015) – The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra (BSO) has announced that it is extending its Music Box Series, a participatory, family-oriented music program for young children ages six months to three years old, to two additional communities this season. In addition to concerts presented at Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall in downtown Baltimore, the BSO will now present Music Box concerts at the Jewish Community Center at The Gordon Center for Performing Arts located on the campus of the Rosenbloom Jewish Community Center at 3506 Gwynnbrook Avenue in Owings Mills, MD, and at the Silver Spring Civic Building, at 1 Veterans Place in Silver Spring, MD.

“We are delighted to be presenting Music Box in two new partner venues this season,” said Carol Bogash, the BSO’s Vice President of Education and Community Engagement. “The BSO is committed to serving communities throughout the state of Maryland and providing all of our citizens, in every age group, access to exceptional live music experiences with the Orchestra. The Gordon Center for Performing Arts and the Silver Spring Civic Building are perfect locations for us—both are centrally located, and both have the capacity to allow more families than ever to participate.”

Each half-hour Music Box concert is narrated by a host/storyteller, and features a small ensemble of BSO musicians performing classical music and children’s songs. The highly engaging and interactive performances offer young children the chance to develop musicality, creativity, coordination and literacy through the exploration of music. Music Box concerts are offered on weekend mornings, and, in addition to a half-hour performance, feature pre-concert activities hosted 30 minutes prior to the show. Narrator/hosts this season will include Shannan E. Johnson, who also narrates select BSO Midweek and Family concerts, and Khaleshia Thorpe-Price, of Wolf Trap’s “A Journey with Jazz” for young audiences.

2015-16 BALTIMORE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA MUSIC BOX SERIES DETAILS:

JMSH = Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, 1212 Cathedral Street, Baltimore, MD
SSCB = Silver Spring Civic Building, 1 Veterans Place, Silver Spring, MD 20910
GCPA = The Gordon Center at the Rosenbloom JCC, 3506 Gwynnbrook Avenue, Owings Mills, MD 21117
Alphabet Soup

Host: Khaleshia Thorpe-Price

Saturday, November 7, 2015 at 10 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. — JMSH

A, B, C, D, E, F, G….Alphabet Soup provides a fun entry to the building blocks of reading and writing through music.
Sleigh Ride

Host: Shannan E. Johnson

Saturday, December 12, 2015 at 10 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. — SSCB
Saturday, December 19, 2015 at 10 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. — JMSH

Songs about winter, bells and sleigh rides are featured on this holiday-inspired program.
Great Big Animals

Host: Khaleshia Thorpe-Price

Saturday, February 27, 2016 at 10 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. — SSCB
Saturday, March 5, 2016 at 10 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. — JMSH
Sunday, March 13, 2016 at 10 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. — GCPA

Using music performed by members of the BSO plus elephants, rhinos, and bears as inspiration, children will bounce, clap and move like big animals during this concert experience.
Birdie Melodies

Host: Shannan E. Johnson

Saturday, April 2, 2016 at 10 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. — SSCB
Saturday, April 9, 2016 at 10 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. — JMSH

BSO musicians create a musical aviary filled with the birdie melodies of robins and cuckoos.
Life in the Water

Host: Shannan E. Johnson

Saturday, May 7, 2016 at 10 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. — SSCB
Saturday, May 14, 2016 at 10 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. — JMSH

This program features the BSO performing music based on a theme of water, with the audience singing along to songs about frogs and fish.

Tickets:

Single tickets for children and adults are $10 for concerts at Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, and $12 for concerts at the Silver Spring Civic Building. Tickets to these concerts are available in advance through the BSO Ticket Office, 1-877-BSO-1444 or BSOmusic.org and can also be purchased at the venues the day of the performance, subject to availability.

Tickets for concerts at the Gordon Center for Performing Arts are $10 and are available in advance at www.jcc.org/gordon-center/family-entertainment/ Tickets can be purchased at GCPA on concert days, subject to availability.

About the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra

Celebrating its Centennial in 2016, the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra (BSO) is recognized as one of America’s most important and innovative orchestras and one of Maryland’s most significant cultural organizations. Led by the dynamic and visionary Maestra Marin Alsop, the Orchestra is internationally acclaimed and locally admired for its outstanding concerts, recordings, broadcasts, touring, and for its groundbreaking education and community outreach initiatives. The BSO annually performs for more than 350,000 people throughout the State of Maryland. Since 1982, its Baltimore home has been the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, and in 2005, the BSO became the nation’s first orchestra with year-round venues in two metropolitan areas with the opening of The Music Center at Strathmore in Bethesda, Maryland. The BSO boasts trailblazing education and community programs designed for audiences of all ages, from a Music Box Series for toddlers and concerts for schoolchildren and families, to comprehensive programs for aspiring young musicians and amateur adult musicians. The award-winning OrchKids™ program, launched by Marin Alsop and the BSO in 2008, provides education resources and fosters social change through the power of music for children in the city’s neediest communities.

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The BSO thanks its many philanthropic supporters,

especially the following Music Box Series partners and sponsors:

Supporting Sponsor: Macy’s

Early Education Sponsor: PNC Grow Up Great

Pre-concert Activity Partner: Ready at Five

Sylvan/Laureate Foundation, Official Education Partner of the BSO

Transamerica, Centennial Season Education Partner

The Music Box Concerts at the Silver Spring Civic Building are supported in part by a grant from Montgomery County, Maryland’s FY16 Community Access Program. Montgomery County is proud to support great performances at the Silver Spring Civic Building.

The Music Box Concerts at the Gordon Center for Performing Arts are supported by

The Peggy and Yale Gordon Trust.