Kids' Orchestra

Books & Music is back!!! Kids’ Orchestra presents engaging music education centered around books from the East Baton Rouge Parish Library children’s collection. Created to spark children’s joy, imagination, and love of music, Books & Music offers hour-long programs where children sing, dance, play an instrument, experience a library book, and meet a professional musician. Parents, guardians, and friends are invited to join in all of the activities. Laughter is guaranteed 😁

Join us during the month of September at any of the listed locations/dates

Join us in extending an extra big congratulations to Education Director, Sam Trevathan, on 10 incredible years with Kids’ Orchestra! Sam has been a driving force behind KO’s success, helping the organization to push boundaries and reach new heights. Thank you for being an incredible advocate for our students, ensuring they have the opportunities and support they need to succeed. Happy KO-iversary, Mr. Sam!

We’re excited to invite you to our open house on October 24th! Join us for a tour of our new office space and get to know our passionate staff members who make it all happen! This event is also in celebration of Lights On Afterschool as we highlight the essential work that afterschool programs play in empowering students to reach their full potential.

We’re just a few weeks away from the start of KO afterschool programming! Registration is still open at all 2024-2025 sites: Audubon/Villa Del Rey, BR FLAIM, Magnolia Woods, Dufrocq, WHAM, Ryan/Progress, McKinley, Shenandoah, Helix Aviation, Advantage Charter, and Willow Charter. No prior musical experience required!
Register today at www.kidsorchestra.org/programs/afterschool

Kids’ Orchestra is looking for volunteers to help us drive our mission forward and impact the lives of students! We have various volunteer opportunities throughout the year from helping at community engagement events to mentoring students. Sign up to volunteer here: https://kidsorchestra.org/get-connected/volunteer 🤝

Last week, we had the pleasure of attending the Cox Charities Tailgate Event, where we connected with Cox employees and discussed the impact of the Charities Community Investment Grant that we received. It was a great opportunity to share about our programs and the services we offer to the community. Thank you, Cox Communications, for your generous support of Kids’ Orchestra!

Welcome Dr. Kristyn Van Cleave! Kristyn is an active pianist, teacher, and vocal coach in the Baton Rouge Area, and has now joined Kids’ Orchestra as our Office Manager and Private Lessons Coordinator. When not immersed in music, Kristyn enjoys exploring French Impressionist collections at art museums and discovering new restaurants with friends! Check out her full bio at www.kidsorchestra.org/staff-board 🎹

We’re thrilled to welcome Dr. Rebeca Lemos González to the KO team! Rebeca has been an amazing Teaching Artist/private cello instructor for the past 3 years and is now a Program Manager and KO’s Instrument Inventory Manager. Read more about her at www.kidsorchestra.org/staff-board ✨

We’re excited to attend the Baton Rouge CoverKids event this Saturday, August 17th! Bring the whole family for a day of fun and stop by the Kids’ Orchestra booth for KO program resources and musical activities.
https://www.eventbee.com/v/cover-kid-event-2024/event?eid=247018485 #/tickets
Discount code: orchestra

Calling all musicians and educators! If you have a passion for music education and youth development, then Kids’ Orchestra has a spot for you on our team! We’re hiring Teaching Artists and Site Staff to help foster a safe, inclusive, and fun afterschool environment where students can explore music and create lasting friendships. Apply today at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/7JCQX7J

2024-2025 registration is officially open! We are thrilled to announce that Kids’ Orchestra is offering programming to students at 14 different schools this year. Spots fill up quickly, so register at www.kidsorchestra.org/programs/afterschool today! No prior musical experience necessary ✨

-Audubon Elementary will be a hub site and Villa Del Rey will be a feeder school (Villa Del Rey students will be bussed to Audubon)

MARK YOUR CALENDARS! KO afterschool registration opens tomorrow at 9:00 AM at www.kidsorchestra.org/programs/afterschool 🎵

We want to say a big thank you to Capital Area United Way for supporting Kids’ Orchestra! We are incredibly grateful for the work that you do, specifically your efforts in helping the ALICE (Assisted Living, Income Constrained, Educated) population and our community reach its full potential.

We’re saying a special THANK YOU to Madeleine Case! Madeleine has been instrumental to Kids’ Orchestra for two years now as our Private Lessons Coordinator, Program Manager, Site Coordinator, and teacher. Please join us in wishing her the best of luck as she begins her Doctor of Musical Arts at the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music! Thank you for two wonderful years of diligence and commitment to making this organization thrive!

We had such a great time performing at the Capital Area United Way Annual Meeting!

Kids' Orchestra

Kids’ Orchestra attended 143 community engagement events last year! We’re committed to building a community of creative, confident, and socially engaged students through music education. We believe that music is one of the best tools to bring people together and we do that through neighborhood concerts, community events, and drum circles. Where do you want to see KO this upcoming year?!

Did you know that Kids’ Orchestra rents instruments? For only $25 a month, the KO rental program offers a hassle-free and flexible way to access high-quality instruments. With a month-to-month rental, you can unlock your music potential with ease and affordability! Get your instrument today at www.kidsorchestra.org/instrument-rental 🎺🥁

Summer camp might be over, but the music making doesn’t have to end! KO private lessons are still taking place at various locations throughout Baton Rouge including the KO office, University United Methodist Church and BREC facilities. Register today at www.kidsorchestra.org/private-lessons 🎶

We’re giving a HUGE shoutout to The Quality Group for making our office move a breeze! They were incredibly careful with our equipment, while being efficient and professional throughout the whole process. We truly couldn’t have done it without them. We highly recommend The Quality Group if you’re looking for a reliable and exceptional moving company!

Thank you to the LSU Museum of Art for hosting our drum circle this weekend! We had a great time getting to share our mission and explore creativity with the community. Check out this awesome article from WBRZ Channel 2 featuring KO Teaching Artist, Ethan Barker!

Nonprofit inspires creativity among children BATON ROUGE - Children had to the chance to get creative Sunday afternoon by participating in art and a drum circle hosted by Kids' Orchestra at the LSU Museum of Art.

We are excited to announce that we’ve moved! As of July 1st, our new office is located at 647 Main Street, Baton Rouge, LA 70801. As our organization continues to grow, this location will bring more space for private lessons, storage, and new class offerings for our community.

Private lessons will continue at the old office (619 Jefferson Hwy) through July 6th.
The old office will be closed from July 7th through 14th, but lessons may continue during this time at UUMC and BREC facilities.
Private lessons will resume at the new office (647 Main Street) starting July 15th!

Thank you to the Arts Council of Greater Baton Rouge for hosting our first field trip! Thanks to John Gray for leading our students through a recording session in the black box, we can’t wait to hear the finished product of their song!

What better way to celebrate than with a concert! Our foundations, violin, viola, cello, brass, and percussion classes showcased their work last Friday for their families and community members. On to our last week of summer camp!

How cool are these tie-dyed KO t-shirts?? There’s still time to register and join us for week 4 of summer camp to tie-dye your own! Register to join us for “The Science of Sound” at www.kidsorchestra.org/summer-camp

Another fantastic week of summer camp in the books! Congratulations to all of our students on a great performance last Friday. We look forward to another week of music making!

Thank you to our guest artists for making this an amazing week!

Monday - Ms. Summer Hayes taught some African dance moves from three different countries: Gabon, Ghana, and South Africa. Students learned how to dance the Azonto, Gwara Gwara, Pilolo, and Jazzé dances, and then split into groups to create their own dances using the moves they learned. Students also learned about some instruments that are typically played during these dances: congas and shekere.

Tuesday - Anya Burgess and her son, Reuben, joined us from their strings shop in Lafayette, Sola Violins! They specialize in Cajun and Zydeco music taught us two dances that are typically heard in Cajun dance venues: the two-step and the waltz. Anya also demonstrated how she builds violins, detailing how each string of the violin creates movement and sound.

Wednesday - The Nolan Wible Quartet joined us again to talk about jazz, demonstrated how to count off, and explained the fascinating process how they spontaneously create music within a structured framework – improvisation!

Thursday - The Getcha Mind Right Brass Band brought vibrant energy on Thursday morning with a New Orleans style brass band! They showcased each instrument and demonstrated a mini-parade around the auditorium to create the atmosphere of a real New Orleans street parade.

We’re hiring! Kids’ Orchestra is excited to announce two full-time positions:
-PROGRAM MANAGER (sites and instrument inventory) to oversee KO sites and work with students, families, and KO staff
-OFFICE MANAGER to support efficient operation of the KO office, accounts payable and accounts receivable, student tuition, managing KO private lessons program, and more

Apply today via LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-kids'-orchestra

Week 1 of Summer Camp: ✅

We had the best time this past week learning about instruments and discovering how music and technology work together. Special thanks to Minos the Saint, Raudol Palacios from Palacios' House Of Arts, and Nolan Wible and the Nolan Wible Quartet for joining us as guest artists, and for The Dufrocq School for hosting us!