What do Mozart’s Bassoon Concerto, Kaz Rodriguez’s 7to6, James Arthur’s Say You Won’t Let Go, and Royal Tailor’s We got that Fire have in common? About 225 local elementary and middle school students sitting in Goodwin Hall on a Tuesday morning—on a school day following a three day weekend.
On May 30, students were treated to special performances by Peabody Conservatory junior Mateen Milan (bassoon), senior Kayin Scanterbury (percussion), Yoshi Horiguchi (MM ’17, Double Bass/Pedagogy), Ebonie Pierce, and local hip-hop artist AkinG Kalld Pedro.
The program is part of the Tuned-In initiative, coordinated by Dan Trahey, and was designed to introduce the students of Baltimore City Public Schools to Peabody, promote diverse musical genres and discuss the variety of musical careers, and reaffirm for students that they don’t need to be a certain type of person to be a great musician.
Mr. Scanterbury, a Tuned-In alumnus as well as Conservatory student, started off by talking about rhythm, playing Rodriguez’s drumkit solo 7to6 to an accompanying track. After wrapping up with a bit of flair, the audience erupted into applause. It was clear these students were intrigued. Next up came Mr. Horiguchi, playing a more traditional prelude by Bach but seamlessly moving into François Rabbath’s Ode d’Espagne. When he broke into Say You Won’t Let Go, complete with lyrics, it wasn’t long before everyone was clapping and singing along.
Next up, another Tuned-in graduate, flutist Ebonie Pierce, performed Kazuo Fukushima’s Requiem, introducing the young audience to woodwind instruments and another style of music. Ms. Pierce, along with Mr. Milan, assists with the Preparatory’s Concert Band under the direction of Eliza Minster and Jarrell Garner. Mr. Milan attributes his Baltimore-upbringing at Baltimore School for the Arts and the Peabody Preparatory in earning a place at the Conservatory. He played Mozart’s Bassoon Concerto for the young visitors and talked to them about music leading to other opportunities before introducing guest artist and Washington, D.C., native AkinG Kalld Pedro.
The students were enthralled by Mr. Pedro’s rhymes and shouted back every call and response despite some disagreement on the greatest hip-hop artist. He performed his own work, Muse 1 and 2, and answered questions in a quick Q&A session.
The hour-long performance wrapped up with the Booker T. Washington Middle School for the Arts’ Brass Band directed by Jared Perry. Their first piece was composed and orchestrated by the young members themselves called Untitled. They were joined by the older performers, wrapping up with We got that Fire, to which the entire hall erupted into song and dance, both in their seats and onstage.
