Beverly Church To Host 'Wild Symphony' Children's Concert

BEVERLY, MA — A "Wild Symphony" is coming to Beverly this weekend when the North Shore Philharmonic Orchestra presents a children's concert and instrument petting zoo at the First Baptist Church, featuring Beverly resident Marshunda Smith as conductor on Sunday.

Smith is the music director and conductor of the Lowell Philharmonic Orchestra. She is also the founder and conductor of the Beverly-based Cherry Hill Chamber Orchestra and NoName Orchestra.

Her work centers around building creative and cross-generational communities through orchestral music, storytelling, and education.

Sunday's event marks another collaboration with NSPO's dedicated Children's Concert Committee
— a group of local musicians and educators from across the North Shore, including committee member Abigail Sykes, a Beverly resident, employee of the Beverly Public Schools and member of First Baptist Church.

The program is set to begin at 2 p.m. at the church at 221 Cabot Street. The instrument petting zoo begins at 2 p.m., with the "Wild Symphony" concert to start at 3. The instrument petting zoo allows youngsters to feel what it's like to hold and play a classical instrument. A variety of crafts and student performers will highlight the pre-concert festivities.

"Wild Symphony" — based on best-selling author Dan Brown's book of the same name — details the adventures of Maestro Mouse and his companions from the animal kingdom. Maestro Mouse introduces listeners to animal characters like Bouncing Kangaroo, Wondrous Whale, and Brilliant Bat through two dozen short musical portraits. The work has been celebrated worldwide since its release in 2020.

Tickets are available online here or at the door for $12, $5.75 for ages 5 to 18, and children 4 and under are admitted free.

Smith is in her second year as music director with the Lowell Philharmonic. In 2018, she became only the second female — and first African-American — to conduct the North Shore Philharmonic Orchestra in a ground-breaking performance that became the focus of a YouTube/RevereTV production "The Democracy of Sound: The Marshunda Smith Story."

She has made it a priority to include youth in her musical endeavors. Last weekend, she conducted NoName Orchestra's first public concert featuring a local Beverly 4th-grade cellist performing alongside adults in a full symphonic work by African American composer Margaret Bonds.

More on Marshunda Smith can be found here.

The North Shore Philharmonic Orchestra recently completed its 76th concert season. The Orchestra strives to develop, train and provide opportunities for young and amateur musicians, while providing a large range of programs covering the full range of symphonic and pops repertoire for a diverse public.

The Children's Concert is supported in part by a grant from the Beverly Cultural Council, which is supported by the Mass Cultural Council.

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. X/Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)