The purpose of these words are not to debate a right or wrong musical pedagogy however to promote the convergence of musicians, music, and students approaching music from different places. For the purpose of this article I will refer to the two different approaches as the Social sphere and Refinement sphere and argue that marrying these two approaches is of best interest to all.

In the summer of 2015, 10 students from one of the most challenging neighborhoods in West Baltimore attended the prestigious, Interlochen Center For the Arts on merit based scholarships. They were at the top of their sections with one young tuba student even being chosen to play solos with their respective ensemble. While these students were refining their skill set at the highest level available to middle school students in the United States, hundreds of other OrchKids students were involved in a more socially oriented sphere dedicated to providing engaging instruction during the most dangerous hours of a child’s life, creating a sense of belonging, team, and cultivating the social skills such as consistency and timeliness.

At the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra’s OrchKids program we strive to engage students and community through two different initiatives: social inclusion and skill-set refining.   They act as two rings inseparable from one another, each strengthening the other’s mission and feeding off of each other.

Social Inclusion:

When you begin to cultivate communities that lack accessibility to music education there is a must to start working in a social manner. This revolves around exposure, excitement, short activities that have high impact, LOTS of performance opportunities, and basically creating opportunities for passion driven inclusive activities musical activities that create community. Get the kids playing, get them performing whether it’s hitting Boomwhackers, striking a bucket, or choreographing a dance to a Frank Ocean track. The key here is immediate access to performance. Think good public school music. Many of these school models do a wonderful job of creating accessibility and democratic access to music.

High Level Skill Set Refining:

After a program has been running for sometime and there is a strong base of community support, student interest, and appropriate resources, it is time to start refining. This is a much more prescribed and methodical approach that includes private lessons, auditioned ensembles, immersive summer studies, and more. I believe that many of our pre-college music programs, conservatories do a tremendous job of preparing refined instrumentalists

Marrying the two:

While many youth orchestra players don’t play in their respective school based ensembles and many students who are in music for “fun” never play with more elite ensembles, Social Change Through Music models and the OrchKids program marry the social and refinement spheres together. 

A few examples:

A.      Similar to some marching bands and choirs, there are section leaders in each section made up of students who are participating in the refinement sphere. Their job is not only to play well but to also develop a section sound and mentality. This motivates the student beyond what the director can do because of the peer to peer mentoring.

B.      Small ensembles are pulled out of the larger social ensembles during concerts to showcase our highest level of musicianship while also inspiring the kids that don not have as refined a skillset.

C.      Tiered Parts offer an opportunity for everyone to play together. At OrchKids, we often have an ensemble as diverse as a Baltimore Symphony musician playing next to a five year old student.

How has OrchKids benefited from this model?

1. We are able to group kids in many different age/grade levels because we are including everyone

2. Older or more skilled players immediately take on a mentoring and teacher role which gives more ownership of the ensemble to these individuals.

3. There is an ensemble and “place” for everyone. Whether the example is a child who only plays the cowbell, to the student that doesn’t quite have their bow control mastered, or an older student who just starts playing, they can be involved and work with students of their own age however much space exists between their musical skill sets.

4. Programs like OrchKids have more of a draw and large numbers of students because a child does not have to be 100% committed to music. The student that is drawn to it has the ability to deepen their commitment while a child who is not can simply BE IN THE ORCHESTRA.

The key with all of this is to not reinvent the wheel. The United States music education system does refinement very well and although programs are cut every year, they do a decent job at social inclusion. This country knows how to teach music. The key is to include more people in the magic of music, especially at the lower income levels. Getting ourselves and institutions to concentrate on inclusion and exclusivity as married together will create much more interest and participation in our wonderful art form.